


It Began With a Kidnapping

by kyliEisMC2



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Growing Up Together, Jealous Sasuke, Protective Uchiha Sasuke, SasuSaku - Freeform, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:28:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 73,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24188920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyliEisMC2/pseuds/kyliEisMC2
Summary: Mikoto arrives home one day to find an adorable pixie of a girl sitting in the middle of her kitchen. After painfully forcing answers from her youngest, Mikoto realizes what exactly has happened. “Sasuke Uchiha! Did you kidnap this girl?!?”
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke
Comments: 458
Kudos: 1142





	1. The Kidnapping

"Just set them on the counter top, I will sort them and put them away so you can get started on your homework," Mikoto instructed as she handed Itachi two grocery bags before loading her own arms with the rest of the shopping and closing the trunk of the white SUV.

"Ah," Itachi replied in the minimal Uchiha fashion.

With a brown paper bag cradled in each of his, just beginning to get muscular, teenage boy arms, Itachi proceeded to follow his mother's instructions. Taking the side door that led directly into the kitchen from the three car parking garage, Itachi twisted the knob then nudged the door open with his foot as he stepped into the kitchen.

From infancy, Itachi had always been hyper sensitive to his surroundings. Nothing ever startled him, nor was he often surprised, having been exposed to many unthinkable things that made up the dark secrets of his family. However, when he lifted his charcoal orbs from the package of sweet dango that he had been eyeballing since his mother first handed him the bag, Itachi came to an abrupt stop when he took in the sight before him.

For the first time in his life, Itachi was at a loss as to what to do. For sitting at the counter he was instructed to set the bags, was a fairy nymph.

Bright, ethereally colored rosy hair, contrasted vividly against the pristine white marble tabletop and matching white backwash that themed the kitchen. She crouched, more than sat on one of the tall stools in order to be high enough to reach the small pile of snack cakes before her. At the moment her eyes were closed, a happy smile adorning her lips, as she chewed the mouthful of half eaten swiss roll in her hand. He watched as she paused mid chew and was taken aback when another vivid color was suddenly added to the scene before him.

Lush green eyes, brilliant and as lively as the spring growth they mimicked, snapped open and stared at him. Her happy chewing came to an abrupt stop as she froze like a deer caught in headlights. For the entire minute in which they stared back at each other, the girl did not so much as bat a single eyelash.

It was then that his analytical mind somehow managed enough function, to gently remind him that such things did not exist. Reprocessing what he was seeing, Itachi realized that his mind was right, it was not a fairy, just a girl that looked like a fairy. However this did not cure his stricken stance as now he was trying to figure out why exactly there was a strange little girl sitting at his family's kitchen table.

"Itachi, what are you just standing there for, move asiー"

His mother's voice was cut off when she managed to push him to the side slightly as she herself attempted to make her way to the counter top. It was then and only then, that the little girl moved. Her green irises made the smallest of shifts as her attention switched from Itachi to the woman that now stood beside him. For several prolonged seconds, her large eyes moved back and forth between the two Uchihas as she continued to sit stock still.

"Oh," Mikoto exclaimed with surprise. She blinked back at the pink haired goldilocks sitting in her kitchen. "Hello there, who are you?"

The girl's green eyes moved from Itachi who watched her closely, back to Mikoto. For a long moment, Itachi thought the girl would not answer her, most likely too petrified to move. But then she surprised him by answering.

"Sakura."

It was offered in a quiet tone and muffled from the mouthful of swiss roll the girl had still yet to swallow. Slowly, without taking her eyes from them, Sakura set the half eaten swissroll in her hand onto the table and pushed it away. With slow caution, she sank low into the chair until only half her face was visible as she peeked out at them over the smooth counter. Her small fingers gripped the counter tightly on either side of her face as she did her best to seemingly hide herself from the incriminating wrappers that littered the counters surface.

At the sight of the obviously terrified pixie girl, Mikoto's motherly instincts that had always been her dominant trait, kicked in. Setting her bag of groceries on the counter next to the stove, she took a couple cautious steps towards the girl, stopping when she noticed the girl's eyes widened fractionally.

She surveyed the tiny figure that peeked out at her.

Judging by her size, Mikoto put the girl at around her youngest son's age. Her fluorescent locks, held back by a red ribbon and wide green apple eyes were, in no better words, adorable. It took everything within the woman not to squeal with delight and pick up the little girl in the same manor she would a cute little puppy or tiny kitten. Instead, she offered her the warmest smile she could give.

"It is nice to meet you Sakura, my name is Mikoto and this is my son Itachi," she said pointing to herself then her son who took a curious step closer as well. "This is our home, may I ask what you are doing here?"

The question was phrased so softly that it held no accusation. At her words, green eyes flicked to the right of Mikoto. As if on cue, there was a rustle, followed by the sound of packaging being torn open, then the patter of footsteps coming from the pantry area. Mikoto turned around just in time to see Sasuke walking out with his arm wrapped around a box of fruit snacks as the other hand fished around for a packet.

He stopped abruptly when he spotted his mother giving him a look that demanded answers. His dark eyes flickered to Sakura for a moment before he looked back to his mother and Itachi.

"Sasuke," Mikoto said in a gentle but warning tone. It was not that she disliked her son having friends over, in fact she celebrated that he had a friend over. But she did not like unannounced play dates with strange children that she had no idea to whom they belonged to. "Who brought Sakura over and when did she arrive?" she questioned, casting a quick, warm smile to the small girl before twisting back around to give Sasuke a penetrating stare.

Sasuke was quiet for a long moment. "No one," he answered as he walked past her and began to clamber up onto the chair next to Sakura.

"What do you mean no one?" she asked. "Then how did she get here?"

Sasuke took his time to open a packet of fruit snacks and dump them out onto the table. "I brought her," he answered, not taking his eyes off of the table as he separated the snacks by color.

"And where, may I ask, if it is not too bothersome, did you bring her from?"

Passing on the green and yellow fruit snacks to Sakura, as he kept the blue and red for himself, Sasuke pulled his attention away from Sakura, who was watching all of them in turn. He spared his mother a single look, an annoyance about his face as if his mother's inquisition was indeed, too bothersome.

"Park," Sasuke answered before turning away from her.

Mikoto's brow twitched at the single worded answer. When Itachi adopted her husband's habit of grunts, hums, and single syllable answers, she thought it was cute. But the novelty of it had worn off quickly to annoyance when she realized her second son was quickly picking up the habit as well.

She put her hands on her hips and gave him a hard stare. She cleared her throat, causing him to look back to her, irritation written all over his face. "What do you mean the park?" She demanded as her impatience began to manifest in her voice.

"Found her," he answered with a shrug but after a dark look that took over his mother's usually sweet face, he swallowed and expanded his answer. "I liked her so I brought her home."

Mikoto found herself nodding automatically but then froze when her son's words registered.

It really should not have surprised her all that much. Sasuke was very much like a magpie when it came to bringing home a shiny or colorful trinket that he had found while playing at the park. They varied from soda caps to lost earrings, torn papers to untwined strings. It always seemed so innocent and harmless...until now.

"Sasuke," she began slowly as a sickening feeling filled her stomach. "Does her mother know that she is here?"

Without a thought Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. The reality of his gesture delayed a reaction from Mikoto, and then her eyes widened at her son for a moment, just before she erupted.

"Sasuke Uchiha! Did you kidnap this girl?!"

* * *

She held the small girl in her arms as she carried her across the street. It was sweet but slightly worrisome just how easily Sakura had allowed Mikoto to pick her up, her small arms wrapping around her as easily as if she were her real mother. It was no wonder Sasuke had gotten her to follow him home. Did the girl just go along with anything?

She looked down at the girl to find her already gazing up at her. Mikoto could not help but smile as the girl gave her a toothy smile. She then adjusted herself in her arms to peak back behind Mikoto. Mikoto turned her head to the side to take in the sulking Sasuke who trudged behind them.

His face was pulled into the usual sour expression that made him look like his father as he walked with his hands stuffed into his pockets. He shot a glare up to his mother which softened when he noticed Sakura peeking over her shoulder at him. Sakura released her hold on Mikoto's arm and waved her tiny hand. Mikoto could not help but let out a small chuckle as Sasuke quickly dipped his head as the tips of his ears turned pink.

As they finally crossed the street and arrived at the edge of the park, Mikoto's amusement was lost when she spotted two police officers speaking with a frantic woman with blonde hair. Her motherly intuition told her that this could only be Sakura's mother, given the near desperate hand gestures and worried expression.

This assumption was confirmed the moment the woman's panicked eyes were directed at her. They were the same color as Sakura's. She let out a cry of happy relief as she abandoned her reporting to the officers and ran over to her.

Mikoto easily surrendered Sakura as the woman gripped her from her arms and hugged her in relief. "Sakura," she exclaimed, "where on earth have you been?"

"I am so sorry," Mikoto began, bringing the other mothers attention to her. "She has been over at my house. I arrived home with my other son to find her in our kitchen. His cousin is supposed to be watching him but he must have snuck out to come to the park. I fear my son, while innocently well intentioned, kidnapped your daughter." As she said this, she turned to the side and pushed a scowling Sasuke forward. "Sasuke," she prompted.

Sasuke only looked up at her with a frown. And only when Mikoto raised a warning brow did he mutter out a bitter 'sorry'.

Mikoto rolled her eyes and offered another, more sincere apology. With her daughter now safely in her arms, and the scare of absence now subsided. Mebuki gave out a small amused laugh as she set Sakura down on the ground, though keeping a tight hold on her hand.

She waved her hand in a breezy gesture. "It's quite alright, it was not your fault. Really it's mine, I should have been paying more attention and Sakura really should know better. We have talked about it but she is unfortunately a little too trusting." She looked down at her daughter and tugged on her arm to grab her attention. "Sakura what on earth were you thinking? We don't got to strangers' houses." She cast a glance at Sasuke. "No matter how old or young they are."

Sakura brought her lips up into a frown. "But he said he had snacks. They had chocolate cakes, and gummies!"

Mebuki gave her an exasperated look. "Well I hope you enjoyed them because you won't be getting any sweets for a month."

The distressed, followed by the dejected look that washed over Sakura's face made both women laugh at the silent lament of such a thing. As their laughter died down, Mikoto offered a hand to the blonde woman. "I am Mikoto," she greeted, "and this is Sasuke," she added, grabbing a hold of her son as she positioned him in front of her.

Mebuki shook her hand and gave a friendly wave to Sasuke who ignored her.

"Sasuke," Mikoto gritted but she too was ignored as Sasuke wandered over next to Sakura and grabbed her free hand. Mikoto shook her head. "Sorry it's not you, he is like this with everyone. I am hoping it is just a phase. Although he seems quite taken with your daughter."

Mebuki waved her off. "It's quite alright. I am Mebuki by the way and of course you know Sakura already. We just moved her along with my husband. We live in the neighborhood down the block."

Mikoto's eyes brightened at the news. "Oh that is wonderful," she exclaimed. "You know Sasuke's birthday is coming up at the end of the month. We would certainly love to have Sakura. Since you are new to the area it would give her a chance to meet some friends and you could meet some of the other mothers."

Mebuki was more than happy to accept. Exchanging numbers the two mothers broke into casual conversation. All the while, Sasuke dragged Sakura off to play on the playground, tugging her along as they went down the slide and shoving any other child away when they tried to help her get up the climbing wall.

When it came time for them to depart, Mikoto called for Sakura and she obediently ran over to her mother. As she took her mother's hand, she gave a happy wave first to Mikoto, then to her newest friend.

Sasuke, however, was not as compliant.

Wordlessly he walked to Sakura and grabbed her hand as he began to make for his own home. When told that Sakura was to go home to her house, Sasuke gave both mothers a hard look before seeming to prepare himself to walk with Sakura and her mother to go to their house. This only caused Mikoto to pick him up at the waist and carry him off. While he threw a silent tantrum, she began to walk home with him tucked under her arm, his legs and arms dangling in the air as he watched Sakura walking away in the opposite direction.

"Don't worry Sasuke," Mikoto assured him as she continued to carry his defeated form across the street. "I am sure you will see Sakura soon. She's the same age and will be starting school with you in the fall. Won't that be nice? You will be able to introduce her to all your friends and see her nearly every day."

As Sasuke registered this in his child mind, he was torn. Yes, his mother was right, it would be good to see Sakura almost everyday at school. However, his mother was wrong about one thing. He would most certainly _not_ be introducing Sakura to any of his friends. Sakura was his, and like the selfish boy he was, he did not share.


	2. The Birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently the world needs more baby SasuSaku and the writing gods have willed it so thus we have it:

Due to her family being busy unpacking and settling into their new home and city, Sasuke had only seen Sakura for a few short afternoons at the park when Mikoto, after the constant nagging of her son, reached out and offered to take Sakura for a few hours to let her have a break from the chaos of unpacking.

Each time, Sasuke had been determined to take her home with him and when his mother told him she had to go to her own house, he insisted on coming along to drop her off each time. And each time he had been found trying to sneak out of the car and attempting to infiltrate Sakura's home unnoticed. So long as he had Sakura, he was content with sacrificing his family, even if he would miss his mother's cooking and his big brothers piggy back rides. It would be worth it. At least that was how he saw it.

Unfortunately his mother did not. And each time he was forced back into their car, kicking and grunting, by his unamused mother. Mikoto learned quickly and by the third time she dropped Sakura off, she had activated the child's lock on the door, thus trapping Sasuke from escaping the car while she walked Sakura to the front door. Sasuke had been bitter towards his mother since then, at least until his birthday finally arrived.

After checking with his mother several times on the morning of the party that Sakura was in fact coming, a habit that had been repeated every morning for the past week, Sasuke had softened towards her as he eagerly waited for the festivities to begin. But when his first guests arrived, and none of them possessed even the slightest shade of pink hair, his mood soured.

Balloons of blue and red hovered over tables, chairs, and anything else that Mikoto had managed to tie and anchor the party decorations to. There were a few tables set up where adults were gathered around, while children ran every which way, throwing fake ninja stars that had been given as party favors. Within the bouncy house, it too being themed with ninjas, screams of children echoed from it as the gleeful cheer of happy jumpers escaped the confines of the inflated structure.

Sasuke had managed to climb on top of the stone wall that served as the perimeter of his mother's beloved garden as he looked out across the scene of the chaotic party. His perch was right next to the table that was overflowing with wrapped packages and gift bags with tissue paper sticking out to hide their contents.

Just below, his best friend was busily helping himself to Sasuke's presents, picking them up, shaking them, then moving on to the next as he made a guess as to what was inside. Occasionally he would peek past the tissue paper of the gift bags, either giving out a chirp of excitement or a groan of displeasure, as if it was he who was receiving the gifts and not the current birthday boy squatting above him.

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto chimed as he peeked into a particularly large bag and spotted a Ninjago lego set. "Can I play with the present that I got you when you open it? I've been dying to try it out."

"Hn."

While the hum would mean nothing to most people, Naruto had grown up with Sasuke and therefore was fluent in the grunting language of the Uchiha males. He had asked the question, not really expecting Sasuke to agree. Sasuke never shared unless he had two of something, and even then he made it seem like he was making a great and benevolent sacrifice.

He is what Naruto dubbed, a bastard. He didn't know what that word meant, nor was he allowed to say it, at least not in front of adults. But he had heard it in a movie Itachi and Shisui had let them watch one time when Sasuke's parents were gone. The way the actor said it, it just sounded so powerfully insulting at the time. So he adopted it into his insults, right next to poopy head and stupid face.

As Naruto looked up to his friend in surprise, he found that Sasuke was not even looking at him. He was busy looking around the back yard with a frown on his face. Naruto formed his own frown. Sasuke had been like this for the whole party so far, and frankly, it was not very fun. Naruto was just about to say as much, but then he caught sight of an oddly shaped package he had yet to shake and abandoned any care as he started to devise what glorious toy could make such a shape.

"Hey Sasuke."

Naruto paused in his present perusal when Sasuke's older cousin and brother approached them. Shisui wore a mirthful grin, the one he always donned when he was going about his favorite activity: teasing Sasuke. Next to him Itachi walked quietly, his face drawn in indifference.

Sasuke did not even pay them any attention as Shisui leaned up against the stone wall he was perched on.

"Isn't the birthday boy supposed to be enjoying his party instead of pouting?" Shisui continued. Again Sasuke ignored him, which only served to encourage, rather than discourage, Shisui from pestering him further.

However Itachi observed his brother, taking in the concentrated search of his eyes as well as the slight slouch of disappointment in his posture. Knowing his cousin would only continue to antagonize his little brother, Itachi spoke up. "Sasuke," Itachi called, bringing Sasuke's attention from the yard to those present for the first time. "Is something wrong?" he asked in a more genuine manor than his cousin.

While his brother was still very young and oftentimes upset for selfish reasons, Itachi could not help but always be worried. If there was something bothering him, he would do everything in his power to make it right. Shisui said he spoiled Sasuke, but Itachi did not care. When Sasuke was born, Itachi's inherent need to protect his brother was instilled within him. Since the first time Itachi held the little bundle that scowled up at him, Itachi had always vowed to keep him safe and happy.

"Ooooooh, I know what's wrong," Shisui singsonged. "He's just upset because his girlfriend stood him up." He let out a teasing laugh as he looked at Itachi and Naruto. "How embarrassing," he not so quietly whispered behind the back of his hand as he moved to poke Sasuke in the side.

Sasuke shoved his hand away and gave Shisui a dark look. "Shut up!" he barked. "You are just a stupid face!"

Shisui let out a sound that mimicked a cat hissing. "Temper, temper Sasuke," he tsked. "You ought to respect your elders, especially me."

"I don't owe you anything," Sasuke growled.

"Humph," Shisui huffed. "So much for gratitude. You know if it weren't for me you would not have even met your girlfriend. Do you know how much trouble I got in for that!?"

"Eww, Sasuke you have a girlfriend?" Naruto questioned, a wrapped box paused half way to his ear as his face contorted in disgust.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Sasuke screamed, his face turning red, and only partially out of anger.

Shisui opened his mouth to say something else but Itachi stopped him. "Letting my little brother wander off while you were too fixated on obtaining the _Knife of Kiss Me_ is hardly a merit worth earning praise for," he said dryly. While he had hardly shown it, he was still slightly bitter against his beloved cousin of a best friend for not keeping a close enough eye on his brother.

Shusui let out a high pitched sound of offense. "It's the _sword_ of _Kusanagi,_ " Shisui corrected. "And I will have you know that sword is one of a kind and gives me a +25 attack as well as gives me the power to body flicker! Since getting it I have become a virtual celebrity in the forums, to the point that people have nicknamed me Shisui of the Body Flicker!"

Itachi rolled his eyes. His cousin's obsession with video games had always baffled him. While he himself played them, and played them well, he was certainly not as fascinated with them as his cousin. Shisui was a genius, but he was really good at hiding it with his immaturity. While Itachi was certainly mature for his age, he still thought that any person his age, especially three years his senior, should know that you don't leave a child unattended for however long it took to earn a _sword_ of _Kusanagi._

"It still doesn't validate letting a five year old wander out of the house by himself."

"Excuse me but he was four, he just turned five today," Shusui defended.

"That doesn't make it any better," Itachi muttered as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He was positive that Shisui was the reason why he was already developing stress lines.

Shisui's antics and Itachi's calm and pacifist tone was tuned out as Sasuke caught sight of a fluorescent color that, before two weeks ago, he despised. The moment he saw Sakura and her mom pass through the side gate of the house, he went straight into action. Hoping down to the ground, he sprinted towards them, crossing the grassy yard as he weaved in and out of adults and children with a skill most toddlers his age did not possess.

"I am so sorry we are late," he heard Sakura's mother say to his mother. "We were just headed out the door when the delivery man came to hook up the new dishwasher and it took longer than expected."

"Oh that's quite alright. Next time just call and I will be more than happy to come pick Sakura up and bring her over," Mikoto said sweetly.

Mebuki gave her a smile. "Oh I couldn't ask that of you! You are the hostess."

"Nonsense," Mikoto countered. "Besides I think Sasuke has been eagerly awaiting her to come." She turned around to look for her son and brightened when she caught sight of him approaching. "Oh Sasuke! Look who just..."

Sasuke did not even give his mother a glance as he snatched Sakura's hand and immediately turned away in a retreat, Sakura in tow.

* * *

He kept to the perimeter of the party, the risk of other children spotting them and wanting to join was too risky if he went straight through. And while normally that is what you did at birthday parties, play with other kids, Sasuke was not too keen on giving up any precious moments he could have with her.

Eventually they arrived at the lone table that held the snacks and drinks. A large plastic table cloth hung over the sides, nearly touching the ground. Lifting the red colored cloth with black swirly designs, he pushed Sakura underneath.

"Wait here," he demanded, more than instructed, before going around to the front of the table where he started piling snacks onto a plate.

He was just about to return when his mother called him over to greet some family members that had just arrived. He didn't care for traditional manners, however his mother did. So he was forced to abandon his plate and walk back over to the house to endure pinched cheeks, tight hugs, and to listen to senseless prattle about how big he had gotten.

* * *

Under the table, Sakura compliantly waited. Hugging her crouched legs, she let out a small sigh as she looked down at her saddled feet. It was hot under the table with the plastic tablecloth trapping the high noon heat, but she did not dare venture outside without Sasuke. She had been nervous when she had arrived with her mother. As she looked around at the large party, all she saw were strange faces. While around the Uchiha's she found an ease with each member of the family, Sakura was usually shy around unknowns. A feat that was currently manifesting as she peeked timidly out from under the table as she looked for Sasuke.

She spotted him across the yard talking to an elderly woman who looked very much like the rest of his family members. Bright green eyes took in the rest of the party, the bouncy house, the games, the cake, it all looked fun. But as tempting as they all were, seeing so many unfamiliar children intimidated her and she retreated back under the table, determined to wait for Sasuke.

Not much later, there was a rustle of plastic and Sakura turned around to see the tablecloth being lifted. Having been expecting to see Sasuke, she froze when the opposite of Sasuke peeked in at her. Sunny blonde hair and bright blue eyes greeted her as a strange boy bent his head under the table.

"Hi!" he exclaimed loudly, then to Sakura's horror, he climbed underneath to join her, his bright orange shorts and matching t-shirt bringing even more brilliance to his aurora.

Sakura froze, petrified and uncertain as to what to do. She had never done well with other kids at her preschool. They tugged her hair and teased her for her large forehead. However….this kid seemed different. He didn't seem vindictive or mean, in fact he was…

"I'm Naruto!" he declared proudly, jabbing a thumb into his chest as he sat on his knees in front of her. "I'm gonna be the mayor one day, just like my dad! Believe it!" When Sakura only stared back at him, he cocked his head to the side. "Are you under here because you don't have any friends? Wanna be my friend? I've never seen you before, are you new around here?" he rapidly asked.

She silently nodded.

"What's your name?"

Sakura swallowed slightly. "S-sakura," she answered when she finally found her voice.

"Is that your real hair color?"

Dread seeped into Sakura. This was it, this was the moment when this seemingly nice person would turn on her and start making fun of her.

"Y-yes," she said hesitantly.

There was a pause and Sakura's heart counted the seconds until the mocking would begin. But again, this strange boy found a way to surprise her once more.

"Cool!" he said loudly, as he leaned forward.

His face came just an inch from hers as he looked at the pink strands. Sakura leaned back slightly to keep at least some distance between them, but the lack of personal space didn't seem to bother him and he just leaned closer. It was then that the table cloth was lifted and they both turned their heads to see Sasuke looking at them, his dark eyes flickering back and forth between them and his mouth turning downward as he noted how close they were.

He was between them in an instant, shoving Naruto away from her onto his back as he glared at his friend. "Get your stinky breath away from her. Sakura doesn't like you!"

Naruto pushed slightly back up from the ground, a hurt look coming to his face as he looked at Sakura. "Really?" he said, his voice sounding betrayed, as if they had been friends for years instead of minutes.

A sense of kindredship suddenly went out to the poor boy and before Sakura knew what she was doing, she was shaking her head vigorously. "NO!" she exclaimed. "I like you!"

Sasuke's head turned to her with a snap. "Sakura, you don't want to be friends with him, he is noisy and stinky like ramen."

Sakura frowned slightly. She was torn. She liked Sasuke, he was her only friend here and she felt a loyalty to him. He had shared his snacks with her and let her play with all of the best toys he had. However, she liked the other boy too. He was nice to her and didn't make fun of her. Couldn't she be friends with both of them?

"But he is nice," she defended. "And he is your friend too," she said, becoming slightly bolder against Sasuke's dominance.

"We aren't friends, we are rivals," Sasuke defended.

"Then why is he at your birthday party?" she countered. "Don't only friends and family come to birthday parties?"

A grumpy pout came to his face as he failed to construct a counter to this.

"Yeah, you hear that bastard!" Naruto exclaimed as he came closer to Sakura and wrapped an arm around her neck. "You aren't the boss of her!"

Sasuke pushed them apart again before grumpily folding his arms. "Fine," he conceded with a dour expression. He supposed he could share her with, who some would claim to be, his best friend. However, Naruto would need to learn to keep his hands off of her. He had broken too many of Sasuke's toys to be trusted with Sasuke's most prized possession.

"So Sakura, do you like to play ninjas?"

At Naruto's question, Sakura's eyes brightened. "Yeah!"

For the remainder of the party, the three stuck together, playing games, eating food, and running around the bouncy house. By the end of the day, while both Kushina and Mebuki helped Mikoto clean up, the three of them sat in the tree house eating cake and planning out their next ninja mission. As it turned out, Naruto was so wild and loud that most kids tended to stay away from his crazy horse play. And again, Sasuke was hit with the idea that maybe Naruto and Sakura being friends was not so bad...but that would be it, no one else would be allowed. There would be no more sharing after Naruto.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya'll are awesome I was not expecting this to be liked quite so much! I sat down to work on my other story and ended up with this instead. Hope you liked it just as much. I changed the name slightly since this is turning into more that just a one shot. Thank you all for such wonderful comments and love. Hope you are all doing well!


	3. The First Day of School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N someone asked how old everyone was so I thought I would answer for anyone else wondering. As we found out in the last chapter Sasuke had just turned 5yrs so that is were Sasuke and Naruto are as well. I think I am going to just keep to the normal age gaps with pretty much everyone else so in the Anime I know Itachi is like 5 years older than Sasuke so that puts him at like 10/11yrs and Shisui is I think like 3yrs above Itachi so maybe 13. Correct me if I am wrong I am just going off of memory and Imma go with it. (Lee I have in their age group so I know that will be different. I have yet to have Neji and Tenten debut so I haven't decided if they will be the same age as well or just a little older)

When Sasuke was woken by his mother that morning to get ready for school, he thought it was going to be the best day. He had watched Itachi come and go from school for years, bringing home exciting projects, learning new things, and getting praise for his achievements. And that was not the only reason he thought it would be great.

He was going to finally see Sakura after not seeing her for nearly three weeks. His family had a week long family vacation followed by a week long family reunion. By the end of those two weeks he was done with his family and ready for Sakura. So when they finally arrived home, he demanded to his mother that Sakura was to come over and play, only to find out that her family had left for a traditional family camping trip for the week. And they would not be home until the night before school started. So it was yet another reason he had been eagerly awaiting school, he just knew the day would be perfect.

 _Never_ had he been so wrong.

His mother had told him this very morning that he would never forget his first day of school. Now, as he sat in the backseat of the car, driving home from said first day of school, he wanted nothing more than to forget everything.

Today had not been the best of days. It had not even been a good day nor close to an okay day. It had been the worst of all days. Nothing had gone the way he had envisioned when he was happily eating his tomato omelette that morning at breakfast. He had been so eager, so desperate to see Sakura that morning, that he had not even tasted his usual favorite morning meal as he wolfed it down by the forkful.

To rub salt in the wound, that same girl was sitting in the seat next to him, jabbering and gushing away to his mother, who had picked them up, about how wonderful the day had been.

As she happily reported to Mikoto of the day's events, Sasuke crossed his arms and pouted quietly in his seat, occasionally catching his mother spying on him in the mirror as she listened and interacted with Sakura, he found himself reflecting on everything that had been wrong about the day...

* * *

It all started the moment he crossed the threshold of the classroom. It was chaotic and loud. A boy stood near the entrance, crying his eyes out as his mother consoled him, assuring him that he would be fine as she tried to detach her child from her leg so that she could leave. Other kids were banging on their desks while the rest spoke loudly to their newly acquainted classmates, friendships and rivalries being built and formed.

His dark gaze made a half sweep of the room before they stopped, his target acquired. Not even giving his mother a goodbye, he began to make his way towards the pinkette sitting at her desk, only to get blocked by the long legs of an adult. Immediately he scowled up at the man. His brown hair was tied back and a large scar across the bridge of his nose. The man bent down and gave him a wide smile.

"Hello there!" he greeted, far too enthusiastically. "I am Mr. Umino but most students just call me Mr. Iruka, I am going to be your teacher. What is your name?" When Sasuke only continued to scowl, the man straightened and let out an awkward chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. "Not much of a talker is he?" he said, directing his attention to Mikoto.

"Oh don't mind him, he will warm up eventually," she assured, despite the challenging raised brow Sasuke shot her. "I am Mikoto Uchiha, and this little guy-" she grabbed Sasuke's shoulder and pulled him back as she intercepted his second attempt to make his way towards Sakura- "is Sasuke." She looked down at him to receive a glare before looking back up and smiling at the teacher. "I promise he will be on his best behavior and if not feel free to notify me."

The teacher nodded his head. "It's a pleasure to meet both of you. I will do my best to be the best teacher your child can have."

Sasuke tuned out their jabbering as he impatiently waited for his mother to leave so he could finally make his way to Sakura, who was still sitting alone at her table, looking nervously around at the wild classroom. When his mother finally left, crushing him with her arms as she got teary eyed and gave him an embarrassing kiss on the cheek, Sasuke made a beeline for Sakura. However he only managed to make it halfway before his teacher called out to him.

Pausing in the middle of the classroom, Sasuke took a meditative deep breath before turning on his heel and looking back to his teacher.

"Your seat is over there," Iruka said, pointing to the table on the opposite side of the classroom.

Sasuke looked back to where Sakura was, his eyes growing wide as a shaggy brown haired boy approached Sakura. Before he could do anything to stop this, he was steered away by his teacher to the other side of the room. There, he was pushed down into his seat and before he could even attempt to get out, the class was called to attention and he was forced to stay seated while the rest of his classmates scrambled to find their tables and assigned seats.

* * *

Sasuke had always been proud to be an Uchiha. The family name had been cultivated for generations. When a person heard the name Uchiha, they knew you were, or going to be, someone important. But as Sasuke sat in his seat, looking at Sakura seated farther than his liking, he was currently loathing the name Uchiha.

He had known his ABC's since he was three, but never, since he had finally sorted out that L, M, N, O, P were separate letters, had he realized just how many letters were in between H and U. As it turned out, it was enough that when assigned seating was in alphabetical order, it put them on opposite sides of the room.

Currently she was sitting next to a boy who had introduced himself to the class as Kiba Inuzuka, a dog obsessed boy that was far too friendly for Sasuke's liking. Sasuke watched with narrowed eyes as his blossom friend shared a pack of crayons with the dog she had as a seat mate.

 _The idiot had not even come to school prepared!_ Sasuke mentally criticized, as Sakura handed Kiba a blue crayon with a smile that was too wide for his liking.

The hand holding his own crayon to his paper but not moving, suddenly got jarred as his seat mates' wild and frantic method of coloring caused him to bump his elbow. Sasuke turned his head and shot Naruto a glare. Yes, Naruto was his deskmate. Another miss fortune that the Uchiha name had brought upon him today. As it turned out, there was no one else with a name in their class whose last name fell between Uchiha and Uzimaki.

"Well isn't that a vibrant picture! Well done Naruto," commented Iruka as he came around to their table. Sasuke looked down at the picture of the house they were all supposed to be coloring in. It was a scribbled mess of pure orange. "Sasuke, good job in staying in the lines but I think it could use a little more color," Iruka criticized as he moved his attention to Sasuke's page before moving on to the next table.

Sasuke looked down at his page which was still practically only blank with the exception of the red front door he had colored. He had been so preoccupied with watching Sakura and Kiba that he had not gotten any further. _Someone_ had to keep an eye on her and make sure the shaggy boy didn't slobber on her or bite her like the mutt he was always talking about! And at that reminder, Sasuke's eyes darted back up to the other side of the room.

Kiba was currently proudly holding up his own picture to Sakura as she clapped her hands and gave him a praising smile. Abruptly, Sauke stood, his chair shifting against the ground with a teeth gritting sound.

"Hey where ya going?" Naruto asked when he started walking towards Sakura's table.

"Sharpen my pencil," he said in a low tone.

"Huh? But we're using crayons."

Sasuke ignored him as he made his way over to the pencil sharpener which was conveniently located near Sakura's table. As he came closer, Sakura gave him a wave which made his tense shoulder ease, only to retense when Kiba grabbed her attention again to show her the dog he had added to his picture.

Sasuke glanced at the dog boys page and let out a snort as he took in the scribble of multiple colors. Who ever saw a tree with a purple trunk? And the violet color was not even close to staying in the lines. It was preschool level at best. But as he heard Sakura give praise to Kiba's drawing of a dog that only had one of its legs drawn, Sasuke found himself stomping back to his seat where he sat down forcefully and fumed in his chair.

* * *

When recess finally arrived, a highly anticipated time because it meant he could finally spend time with Sakura, Sasuke was again greeted with a disappointing outcome. In the rush that followed their excusal to go outside, Sasuke missed catching Sakura before she exited the classroom. This meant that he had to find her on the massive playground before he could even catch up to her, and when he did, his eyes bulged.

Sakura was cornered by a green blob. When he had a moment to register what exactly he was looking at, he realized it was Lee, another boy in their class.

He was standing before her, his arms gesturing wildly as he loudly proclaimed, "Let's go out! I will protect you until I die!"

Sakura's eyes went wide as she backed up against the fence that ran around the school yard. Sasuke moved forward to rescue her and tell Lee that Sakura already had protection, that she was _his_ responsibility and she didn't need anyone else except for himself and he supposed Naruto too. But again, for what seemed like the thousandth time that day, his pathway to Sakura was blocked.

Blonde hair and blue eyes gazed at him as his table mate stepped in front of him, and it wasn't Naruto. It was Ino. The annoying loud mouth girl that sat on the other side of the table opposite of him. She stared at him too often with the same look his own mother looked at his father on occasion. He didn't like it at all. But what he did not like even more was when the girl latched onto his arm and exclaimed how much she wanted him to swing with her, he could push her or even sit side by side and hold hands as they….

She had ranted on and on about how they could even go to the teeter totter or merry go round. By the time he managed to fend the yammering girl off to continue his quest to save Sakura, Sakura had already been saved. Kiba, her lap dog of a desk mate, was busy yelling at Lee to leave his friend alone and before he knew it, Sasuke was watching Sakura walk away with him to where a game of kickball was where she was introduced her to even more kids in their class as well as others, some even from the older grades. And Sasuke felt at a loss as to what to do. He had planned to be against his class, not the entire school!

She didn't play kick ball but instead she sat in the grass next to another classmate. As Sasuke sulked on the swings, he watched Sakura and Shikamaru sit together, pointing at the sky as they looked up at the clouds.

He knew Shikamaru before today, they had been in the same playgroup for as long as he could remember. He had even liked Shikamaru, he didn't make too much noise and wasn't an idiot. His only downfall was that the kid was lazy. It took him nearly a year after everyone else to start walking and Sasuke had a suspicion that he had the skills all along, he was just too lazy to bother walking when his mother could carry him instead. Unfortunately as he watched Sakura get along and talk with him so easily, he couldn't help but feel jealous. But he wasn't sure who he was more angry with, Shikamaru or Sakura. As surprising as it was.

It turned out that Sakura's quiet and shy demeanor when they first met was a result of her being out of her comfort zone. She had been pulled out of the environment, leaving her friends and familiarity she had been used to as she was put into a whole new world. A new house, new city, new faces and she had been nervous. At least that is how his mother had explained it to him. But it turned out Sakura was quite a vocal person, much like Naruto. It just took time for her to open up. After a summer of running around with himself and Naruto, as well as being exposed to his family on a consistent schedule, Sakura had come out of her shell. A factor he had not calculated when he had thought about school. She was still shy at first, but she warmed up more quickly.

Another factor he had overlooked was that Sakura was likable, too likable. And she was quickly making friends. Making new friends and forgetting about him. He couldn't help it, he felt betrayed. And because of this, he felt a twinge of anger towards her. It was strange and new and he didn't like it.

The final straw came at snack time.

They had to sit at their desks and while he had to tell Ino for the umptenth time that no, he did not want to share her pocky sticks, he caught sight of the final act of betrayal. Sakura, as always, since the first time they had ever shared a pack of fruit snacks, divided them by color. As always she kept the green and yellow to herself but then, then she committed the treacherous act.

She handed over the blue and red ones... to Kiba!

Those were his colors, his flavors and she was giving them to Kiba! Kiba who had somehow managed to get two streaks of red paint on his cheeks, when they had not even used paints today!

He had not realized the severity of his anger until a sticky wetness spilled onto his hand and he realized he had squeezed his juice box too hard, causing it to spill all over his desk. It was then that he was fully done with the day, and it was only half over.

* * *

Now he sat in the car, listening to Sakura going on and on about how glorious the world's worst day had been. He hated school. He hated dog faced boys named Kiba. He hated how Kiba constantly talked about his puppy. He hated seating charts. He hated the alphabet. He hated last names. He hated his desk mates. He hated how Naruto would not shut up about the Ramen he would get as an afterschool snack. He hated blonde girls that would not leave him alone. He hated it all and he was not going back. He was going to drop out and get a job selling lemonade at a street corner. He had made eight whole dollars the day he and Sakura had done that over the summer. If he did it every day he would be rich and then Sakura would beg to be his friend again.

They pulled up in front of Sakura's house and she unbuckled herself as Mikoto came around to help her out of the car and walk her to the door. Just as Sakura was about to jump down from the elevation of the SUV, she paused and turned back around.

"Oh wait!" she exclaimed as she began to dig around in her backpack and pulled out a piece of paper. "I made this for you Sasuke."

It took him a moment as he was still mad at her but eventually, he uncrossed his arms and took the folded paper. However she did not relinquish it immediately.

"I-Ino seemed close to you at recess," she began, a small sadness to her voice. "Do you...do you like her?"

Sasuke's face cringed in disgust at the memory. "NO!" he practically bellowed. Her question made him even more angry at her for suggesting such a thing.

Immediately she brightened, despite being yelled at as she surrendered the piece of paper. "I missed you today," she said. "I saw you swinging today at recess, maybe tomorrow we can play on the swings together!"

His head betrayed him as it nodded automatically, causing her face to brighten more as she gave him a wave, jumped down to the ground, and scampered off towards her front door. When Mikoto returned back to the car and started driving to their own home, Sasuke managed to unfold the paper and look at it.

It was the same picture that everyone had colored today. The house was colored in relatively well, only a few spots where she had gone out of the lines with the red crayon she had colored it with. But this was not given much attention has his eyes were drawn to the two stick figures standing next to the house. One with pink hair and a triangle green dress, the other just thin black lines for legs, arms, torso, and neck. On the top of the second figure's head, was a mess of spiky black for hair. Both of them had large smiles on their faces as they held hands.

The happy smile that came to his mouth was not missed by Mikoto in the rearview mirror as she peeked at her earlier sulking son.

She hadn't forgotten about him. Sakura had been thinking about him all along. As soon as he made this realization he felt much better. And as he carefully refolded the picture, his mind whirled. Maybe school wasn't so bad. Except for maybe the seating charts. Seating charts were stupid. Though, they wouldn't be so bad if Sakura's name was closer to his. Then they could always sit together.

However, he was not sure how one changed one's name. His mother once had a different name. It used to be the same as his grandparents from her side of the family. But then she married his dad and she changed it to his. He was not sure why but apparently it was what you did when you got married...

It was like a light bulb went on above his head. In that moment he knew exactly how to fix the stupid seating chart. If he did it, then it would mean that Sakura would always sit by him and never be next to a smelly dog boy.

"Momma," he began, causing his mother to glance at him only to find him making a fist of determination as his face took on a resolute expression. "I am going to marry Sakura!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it and got your sugar rush! If no one objects, i'm just gonna keep posting to this when I have ideas. Some people have expressed that they would love to see them grow up which is an idea I could maybe do. Just kind of random moments and events in their lives maybe? We shall see. Anyways, as always thank you all for your support and to those who took their time to express it! I always love to hear what you think! Take care and continue to be excellent!
> 
> Next time: The Tea Party


	4. The Tea Party

Mikoto Uchiha had just finished dropping Sasuke and Itachi off at school when she got a panicked phone call from her good friend Mebuki. Sakura had the chickenpox.

Having already dealt with both her children, Sasuke just the year before after having gotten them from Naruto, Mikoto calmly assured the less experienced mother that everything would be fine. But then later that morning she got another panicked call from Mebuki.

"I am so sorry to trouble you," she had said. "But there is an emergency at work and they need me to come in but I cannot leave Sakura alone.

Fifteen minutes later, Mikoto had a red spotted and itchy, but otherwise chipper, Sakura in her home with no one else to bother them for an entire day.

Mikoto had always wanted a little girl. Someone who she could dress up and spoil, as well as have someone to share some of her favorite hobbies like gardening and cooking. However due to some complications she had during her pregnancy with Sasuke, any hopes of more children had been taken away. She loved her boys and would never trade them for anything in the world, but on the rare occasion, she found herself forlornly wishing for a miracle. That past summer, she had been granted such a wish in the strangest way.

While she still did not condone the act of kidnapping, she would always be grateful to Sasuke for the results of that fateful day. Since then, Sakura's presence seemed to be a more common occurrence than not. Given her parents' heavy work schedules, Mikoto had offered to watch Sakura any time. Mebuki had been hesitant at first, not wanting to intrude but between Sasuke's constant nagging to have her over, combined with Mikoto's own desire to have her in her house, the Uchiha mansion practically became Sakura's second home. And oh how the dynamics of their house had changed over the seasons.

In combination to perhaps Sakura becoming bolder and Sasuke becoming confident that she would not replace his role in her life with someone else, Sasuke had begun to allow a select group of people to interact with her. And on more rare occasions, be left alone with her.

However any time this happened, he could be seen peeking around the corner and giving a hard stare at such a person as he supervised their interaction. And it was never more than times of thirty minute increments before Sasuke would be coming back to collect Sakura and drag her off to play. The elite group that was granted such a privilege, included herself and Itachi, sometimes Naruto, and surprisingly, Fukgaku was also allowed unsupervised time with her. Shisui on the other hand, was banned from even touching her. Any time he did, Sasuke swatted his hand away.

The first thing Mikoto did with Sakura was make some premade lunches for the week. As they worked together, shaping the Onigiri into triangles, or in Sakura's case misshapened blobs, Mikoto happily listened to Sakura jabber away about this and that. Once finished they went out to the garden where Sakura happily bounced around from flower to flower and caught caterpillars while Mikoto weeded around the rose bushes. Later on, Mikoto found herself bringing down an old box of toys she had saved from her childhood and set them out for Sakura to rummage through while she got a few things done around the house. It was nothing too spectacular. An old tea set with missing saucers and cups, a few treasured dolls, and some old clothes and costumes with a few extra accessories. As she went about vacuuming and dusting the house, she smiled as she heard Sakura occasionally ooh and awe from the living room as she looked at its contents.

* * *

Mikoto was just cleaning up the kitchen when she looked out into the backyard to see Sakura dragging the box across the grass to the garden. She had put on an old flapper dress costume and accessorized herself with a long string of pearls and floppy hat with an arrangement of fake flowers decorating the brim. As she pulled the large box, she stumbled in the pair of heels she had borrowed from Mikoto with such a sweet request, that Mikoto would have given all of her shoes if she asked. Eventually she made it to her destination and disappeared behind the large bushes that made up the garden.

After a few minutes, Mikoto had gone outside to check on her to find her with a blanket spread in the middle of the flora as she set up the dolls and set cups and saucers out. Content that she was fine, Mikoto went back inside to finish the dishes.

The slam of the front door followed by running footsteps announced Sasuke's arrival home from school. Given the thunderous sound of multiple footsteps, she could only assume Naruto had followed him home, as it was not a rare occurrence given that he lived next door. Kushina had been the one to pick them up from school today and she could only assume they had both run straight to the Uchiha house as soon as they had pulled into the driveway.

As the thundering of their steps grew closer, Mikoto turned from the sink just in time to see Sasuke come around the corner from the hallway, followed by, as she predicted, Naruto.

"Somthings wrong with Sakura!" Sasuke exclaimed with panic.

For a moment Mikoto was worried, she could have sworn Sakura was still out in the garden and she had not heard her yell out in distress. She glanced out the window into the garden to see the top of Sakura's hat as she wandered around the four o'clocks, looking very much okay. It was then that in unison, Sasuke and Naruto began to frantically tell her that she had not been at school that day and clarity came to Mikoto for their cause of panic.

However before she could even open her mouth to tell them the reason Sakura was gone, Naruto had begun to tell her a fantasized tale that involved Sakura's kidnapping on the way to school and was now most likely being held for ransom by a ship of pirates in the seven seas. By the end of his wild and embellished theory, Sasuke was halfway through dialing 911 on the phone to call in special ops to rescue her. Mikoto only managed to notice and snatch the phone away just as she heard the operator's greeting sounding from the speaker. The operator was half way through asking what the emergency was by the time she hung up. Immediately Sasuke began to yell and scream at her while Naruto began to loudly theorize that perhaps instead of pirates, it was aliens who had taken her.

It was utter chaos as Mikoto held the phone out of Sasuke's reach as she tried to explain over his uncharacteristical shouting, that Sakura was fine and there at the house. In fact it was only when the missing person in question suddenly walked into the kitchen, that they were all rendered quiet. Sasuke and Naruto both froze and stared in disbelief as Sakura took in the chaotic panic that had been playing out in the middle of the kitchen.

Mikoto took in a calming breath to calm the forming headache from stress before she finally explained. "Sasuke, Naruto," she began. "Sakura has the chickenpox. That's why she was not at school. Nor will she for the rest of the week," she added, doing her best to avoid any other future mayhem that could ensue when Sakura did not show up to school again the next day.

It was quiet for a moment before Naruto let out a loud, "ohhhhh why didn't you say so?"

Mikoto's face fell to her chest as she rolled her eyes and shook her head. Sasuke blinked at his mother a few times as his brain slowly registered what she had said. And then it clicked. He remembered having the chickenpox. He hated it because it was itchy and he couldn't scratch, putting him in a not so surprising bad mood for a week. Naruto had it worse as his mother had taped kitchen mitts to his hands to keep him from scratching as he had no will power.

He was in front of her in a blur, grabbing her head as he took in the small red dots that marred her skin. "Have you been scratching," Sasuke demanded.

Sakura shook her head. "No," she answered.

Sasuke waited for a moment before nodding and let her head go. As soon as he did, Sakura was grabbing onto both his hand and Naruto's as she dragged them outside, announcing that there was a tea party in the garden.

Left in the still quiet of their wake, Mikoto could not help but laugh, now that she had a moment to find the humor in it. It was touching how worried both of the boys were. It gave her peace knowing that such a sweet girl like Sakura had such dedicated protectors around her. She just hoped it would last long into their lives. It would be a shame if Sakura was no longer around.

She was just finishing the dishes while she listened to the occasional shout or laugh that flowed in through the open window from the back garden, when Sakura came back in to request a package of cookies and tomato flavored chips. The requests she was certain came from the two boys but was being requested through Sakura as both Naruto and Sasuke thought Mikoto couldn't say no to her.

And they were right.

Which was why Mikoto found herself digging through the pantry, Sakura patiently waiting next to her, when her oldest son came home.

"'Tachi!" Sakura exclaimed happily as she held the package of cookies in her hand, waiting for the chips to be handed to her. "I have the chickenpox," she announced as if it was something to be proud of.

Itachi gave her a smile as he placed his backpack on the kitchen counter before kneeling down next to her. "Do you!" He exclaimed. "I bet you're being good and not scratching. Is that why you are getting cookies?"

She nodded her head. "Yep!"

"Can I have some?" He asked, never one to pass up a chance to satisfy his sweet tooth.

Sakura put on a show of hard thinking then nodded. "But only if you come to my tea party," she added, a cunning glint coming to her eye.

Mikoto could not help but smile as she watched the struggle in Itachi's eyes. Playing tea party was obviously not what he wanted to do. However sweets were a weakness of his, as was Sakura herself. As normal as Sakura seemed as any other child was, Mikoto still had a suspicion that the girl was more than what meets the eye. Given her fairy features, it only made it more difficult to not actually believe she wasn't a forest sprite. A fairy child that used cunning and charm to prey upon Uchiha men. Sakura could get them to do anything. It was the reason why Sasuke had been outside for the past half hour playing tea party and why she knew Itachi was going to take her hand and follow her into her little garden kingdom as well.

As predicted, Itachi followed her out to the garden, his hands full of the snacks as she skipped in front of him. Like a fairy pied piper, leading him into a garden of wonders that he would forever be lost in. If Sakura was not so innocently sweet and considerate of her control over them, Mikoto would be worried about such powers over her boys.

* * *

She was just turning through her recipe book, deciding on dinner, when her husband came home from work. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek as he explained he had come home early and would finish his work in their home office. Fugaku had just disappeared when there was a sudden knock from the side door and she looked up to see Shisui letting himself in.

"Hi-ya auntie," he said as he easily entered her house as if he intruded uninvited into other peoples homes on a regular basis, which he did given he lived just down the street. He grabbed a packet of chips from the pantry and started eating them.

"Hey Shisui, school going all right?"

Shisui shrugged. "It's alright. We registered for our classes at the high school for next year so that was exciting."

"High school already," she exclaimed. "Goodness my favorite nephew is growing too fast. Next thing I know you will be driving and dating."

He gave his aunt a wink. "You bet I will! The ladies won't know what hit them."

Mikoto let out a small chuckle as her sympathy went out to all the broken hearts her nephew would be leaving behind. "What brings you over here? I think Itachi is still out in the gardens."

"Cool," he said, heading to the back door. "Oh yeah, and my mom wanted to know if you could bring her over some of your home made rose tea."

"Sure," Mikoto agreed knowing full well she was certain Shisui was supposed to be returning home with the tea himself but she didn't mind. So she paused her perusing if the cookbook, let her husband know she would be down the street, and made her way over to her sister in law.

* * *

When Mikoto returned, much later than she planned, the house was quiet and still. She had been expecting to come home to noisy boys playing video games in front of the tv as the norm would dictate. Itachi would be sitting quietly as he concentrated on the game as his fingers vigorously pressed buttons, Shisui would be whooping and hollering with every triumph, and Sasuke and Naruto would be arguing with each other as their controllers were left forgotten. All the while, Sakura would normally be happily moving from person to person, sitting in Shisui's lap before being pulled away by Sasuke, playing with Itachi's hair, and occasionally smacking Naruto upside the head while she calmed Sasuke down with a gentle pat on the shoulder. But when she walked through the house there was not a single other soul to be found. Even when she peeked into Fugaku's office she found it vacant.

Scratching her head she heard a sound coming from the back yard. _Were they all still in the garden_? She questioned in surprise.

Wandering out to the backyard she made her way to the entrance and walked down the path to where Sakura had originally laid out her tea party. A loud, distinct complaint of Naruto echoed down to her, followed by a groan of pain as Sakura's usually sweet voice lashed out that you drink tea with the pinkie out. When she turned the corner and cleared the large hydrangea bush, Mikoto stopped and stared wide eyed at the scene before her.

The blanket was still spread out along the grass but instead of dolls sitting around the edge, it was Uchihas and Naruto. In the middle, Sakura bounced from person to person, pouring invisible tea as she happily hummed and skipped around to attend to each of her guests. As she did this, Mikoto took in each of her "guests" who liked more like compliant captives.

Naruto was the first, he was currently nursing a goose egg that most likely had been recently earned. Sakura, while small and sweet, could deal out an unnaturally harsh blow to anyone, her usual victim being Naruto. The poor injured boy was currently sporting a frilly frock apron as he took scared sips of his invisible tea with a sure pinkie sticking out each time Sakura looked at him.

Next to him was Sasuke. A sour expression was on his face as a silky scarf hung around his neck and a beret balanced on top of his messy hair of black spikes. A large pair of cat eye sunglasses covered most of his face but she was sure if they were visible, they would be murderous towards anyone who dared laugh at him.

Across from Sasuke sat Itachi with his long silky hair pulled into a messy braid that had been obviously woven inexpertly by Sakura. Attached at various parts of his head, she had secured several butterfly clips and colorful hair clips. His expression was a mixture of concentrated perplexity, as if he was trying to figure out how exactly he ended up like this and wondering why he was still going along with it.

Shisui too was spared any clothing, but his curly locks had been pulled into several randomly placed short pony tails. Unlike his younger cousins and Naruto, he was enthusiastically making roasts as clinked tea cups with anyone close enough before taking a fake swig. Each time he "emptied" his cup, he demanded for more to Sakura's delight. With each call for more, she hurriedly ran over to him and poured him another cup. And each time this occurred, Sasuke gave him a burning glare that even the darkest of sunglasses could not shade.

None of this surprised her more than when he eyes fell upon the fifth and final guest of the tea party. The moment her eyes fell upon her own husband, sitting cross legged and obediently holding a dainty pinkie out as he held a small tea cup that he could barely grip with just two of his fingers, Mikoto had to do everything in her power not to bust out laughing. However, the moment she took in the large sun hat with a silky ribbon securely tied into a large bow under his chin, Mikoto lost it.

It started out as a suppressed snort but she soon lost control and was doubled over in laughter. When she managed to straighten up, still chuckling and whipping tears of laughter from her eyes, Fugaku was frowning deeply at her. It was a look that did not quite look as serious as always when framed with a giant bonnet. However the frown did not last long, for as soon as his displeased look appeared, Sakura was in front of him, giving him the sweetest smile as she tipped her tea pot to his cup. And to everyone's astonishment, the grim man's mouth softened, then turned upward in the smallest of smiles before Sakura skipped up to Mikoto to pull her down to the blanket and serve her some tea.

.

.

.

**Earlier:**

Fugaku sat at his desk typing on his computer while occasionally flipping through paper work when he heard a light knock on his door. He paused in his typing and frowned. He knew Mikoto had just left and his children knew not to disturb him while in his office. After a moment he went back to typing, hoping whatever was needed would be resolved on its own. He expected as much from his children. Then again, his house always seemed to be full of children that did not belong to him these days. It's things like that, that made him think he should move to the countryside, where dropping by was not a habit. However when the handle of the door rattled before the door cracked open, Fugaku knew his hope of being left unbothered was futile.

He looked up from his screen, ready to tell whoever had disturbed him that someone had better be bleeding from a lost appendage to be intruding, but his gruff voice was halted when a pair of large green eyes peeked in from the crack. Upon spotting him, the door opened wider and Sakura, with her familiar pink head, trotted into the room.

As she came around to his side of the desk, Fugaku pushed his chair back slightly to look at her as she approached. This girl was a strange one. Things around his household had certainly changed since she started coming around and Fugaku was not sure how he felt about it.

She paused in front of him, looking up at him for a moment before taking a few more steps forward, and to his surprise, using the armrest of the chair and his left knee, she climbed up into his lap and perched on his leg. As she settled, Fugaku could only stare stiffly down at her, unsure of what to do. His own children had not sat in his lap since they had learned to walk. Yet this girl made it seem as if it was a regular habit for him to have a child so comfortable around him.

He didn't know much about this girl except that she knew how to sweet talk Itachi into sharing his treasured sweets, Sasuke dragged her around everywhere he went, and his wife treated her like she was her own child, always doting on her and spoiling her with anything and everything. He was not sure how this little girl managed it, but as her green eyes looked up at him as her hands twisted in her lap, he felt a small inkling within him to grant any wish that came out of her mouth.

"Mr. Uchiha," she said in a small voice.

"Hn," he grunted, prompting her to continue.

She looked down at her lap before flashing her green irises up at him timidly. "Will you come to my tea party?"

Before Fagaku even realized what he was doing, or what the consequences were, he found himself being led into his wife's garden for a tea party that he was certain would not have any tea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was laying in bed thinking about what Fugaku would be like in this story and what his interaction with Sakura would be like and I was blessed with this image of him and thus this chapter was created. Hope you all enjoyed it. I cannot say how overjoyed I was that so many people loved so many different parts and elements of the First Day of School! I love hearing your reactions and your wonderful support! I have seen a couple wishes and requests of events they would like to see so I am noting them and thinking of ways to make those happen. As always I am open to ideas since I really have no plans on where this is going, just kinda of going with the flow. Anyways I am thinking of doing a little time jump unless there are a few more things people want to see at this age or around this age before we jump forward. 
> 
> Possibly up next: The Sleep Over or The Festival(Requested) have not decided yet. 
> 
> Take care and keep being excellent!


	5. The Sleepover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI we had a little time jump for this chapter. Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto have just finished grade 1

"Oh fuー"

"Shisui, language!" came Mikoto's shout from the top of the stairs.

"Sorry auntie!" Shisui called back, not moving his eyes from the large T.V. screen as he vigorously pressed buttons and maneuvered the toggle. "Damn it!"

"'Tachi, Shisui said a bad word," Sakura said in a quiet gasp, tilting her head back to look at him from where she sat in his lap.

Itachi looked down at her where she was nestled comfortably in the seat that he made when he crossed his long legs. He had grown a lot over the past year. He had still yet to fill out but it would only be a matter of time before his lanky form would not look quite so awkward. In another year or so he would be just like Shisui, except for taller.

While he had only just finished his sophmore year of high school, Shisui looked more like he had finished his sophmore year of collage by the way he had physically matured over the course of the past school year. And just as Mikoto had predicted, Shisui was a heart breaker. His boyish charm but manly form had girls swooning and filling his locker with love confessions. And for a boy who was already insufferably full of himself, it only went to his head even more as it seemed every girl they came across fell in love with him.

Even Sakura had proclaimed him as handsome as a prince. This proclamation had been the final puff of air to inflate Shisui's ego and had triggered Sasuke so much that he did not talk to Sakura for a week. It had been the worst week of Uchiha household history.

Sasuke had been moody and irritant. And it did not help that Shisui had made it his mission to stop by every day just to antagonize his younger cousin by reading the valentine card he had gotten from Sakura that year. It had been a simple homemade card stock card with hearts drawn all over it with a "to" and "from" addressed right above a drawing of Shisui and Sakura as a prince and princess. However, Shisui was a natural born bard who could make up a sonnet on the spot and therefore the "words" that Sakura had supposedly written, became more and more extravagant with each reading. By the third day, Mikoto had banned Shusui from the house until Sasuke finally cracked at day seven and begged for Sakura to come over. Thus curing his insufferable foul mood when she bounced through the door to give him a tight hug.

Itachi let out a sigh. "Yes Sakura he did, and he knows he shouldn't," he said, giving his cousin a hard glare.

Shisui did not even seem to notice nor hear his words as he continued to stare at the T.V. screen. Tongue sticking out in concentration, Shisui maneuvered his character into the blue zone to take out an avatar, causing Sasuke to let out a cry of outrage as his character died by the hands of _bodyfl!k3r_ladyk!ll3r_.

Itachi frowned then looked down at Sakura who was now looking at the screen as well, her face was pulled into concentration as her too small of fingers awkwardly maneuvered her character, which was currently stuck in a corner, running in place.

"Hey Sakura, would you mind if I help you for a moment?" he asked.

Sakura nodded and Itachi wrapped his hands around her smaller ones and began to maneuver the pink haired avatar that was wearing a purple dress and carrying a bazooka. Within thirty seconds Itachi had skillfully tracked down the ninja avatar, took him in sights, and shot him across the screen.

"NO!?" Shisui let out as his character collapsed and a message ran across the screen, informing him that he had been killed by _cherryprincess007_.

As soon as Itachi had taken him out he surrendered the controller back to Sakura's full control, who was too busy celebrating that it was her character that killed Shisui, to realize her avatar was back to running in place, this time into the wall of a cliff. Sasuke joined in on the cheering, rejoicing in the death of his own killer.

"Serves you right!" Sasuke declared.

Shisui gave his younger cousin an annoyed glare but it quickly disappeared when a mischievous grin crossed his face. He whipped around to look at Sakura.

"Sakura how could you!" Shisui cried with a fake sniff. "I thought you loved me! Is that really how you treat a prince? Oh to be betrayed by my own love!" He declared in woe as he dramatically laid down in dismay.

It did not matter how many times she had seen this fake act, there was always something within Sakura that drove her to those who were hurting. Crouching over him she patted his curly head with a small hand as she assured him that she still loved him and she was sorry.

Shisui shot up. "Really," he said, causing Sakura to nod her head vigorously as if their lives depended on the believability.

In her urgency she wrapped her small hands around his neck as she hugged him on her tippy toes. Shisui cracked his eyes open and shot Sasuke a villainous grin from over her short head. Sasuke's body shook with fury and it was only a matter of seconds before he was across the room and forcing himself between them.

"Sakura get away from him," he demanded, gently pushing her away as he shot Shisui a death glare, which only made his cousin smirk wider. "He is a slimy liar that smells like dog poop!" he added, making Shisui let out an offended outrage.

"Oi!" he exclaimed in indignation before looking at Sakura. "Sakura, don't believe this little turd. If anyone is a stinky little slim ball it's him."

While Sakura was sweet and caring and had a big heart for anyone and everyone, there was always one person that took precedence when forced to take sides, and that person was Sasuke. Because at the end of the day, when it came down to it, it was always Sasuke that Sakura went back to. As soon as the insult came from Shisui's mouth Sakura was pouncing one him, doing her best to pin him down with her unnatural strength for a small child like herself. While Shisui's face was forced down into the carpet as Sakura pummeled him with a fist that hurt but did no permanent damage, Sasuke, for the first time, did not bother to separate her from his older cousin. Instead he joined in, calling upon Naruto for reinforcements.

As Shisui called out for Itachi to aid him, Itachi deafly picked up the controller that had been abandoned by Sakura as he started a new game. "I told you not to swear," he chided.

As Itachi went about choosing a character for the next round, he couldn't help the happy smile that formed on his face as he listened to the three younger ones squeal with delight as Shisui bemoaned himself. At the end of the school year since Itachi had first started going, he and Shisui had made it a tradition to have a sleepover in the tree house to kick off the summer at the end of the school year. It had always been just the two of them, up until two years ago. Ever since Sasuke officially finished his first year of school, he too had joined them, which also meant Naruto and Sakura joined by default.

Itachi had not minded but Shisui had made a protest that first year. That is until Sakura had been tasked to work her charm. It took exactly twenty-seven seconds before Shisui caved and allowed it. This year, Shisui had not even hesitated. That is until now. Now, as Shisui screamed out in pain as three rugrats gained up on him, Itachi wondered if he was now regretting giving in to Sakura's charms the year before. But then again, it was not as if Shisui would have ever had a choice. At least not when it came to Sakura, none of them did.

* * *

"'Tachi."

Itachi started awake when he heard the quiet voice calling his nickname and felt the pudgy short finger dig into his cheek as she poked him awake. When his eyes flew open, he was greeted by the shadowed and wide eyed face of Sakura as the moonlight seeped in through the tree house window. Upon seeing that he was awake, she sat back on her heels as he sat up. Looking around the wooden fortress he noted that everyone else was fast asleep, Shisui's body hanging over the edge of the hammock he claimed in right of being the oldest, Naruto snoring loudly in his corner with his rear end pointed in the air, and Sasuke sleeping unnaturally still by the empty spot that Sakura had claimed earlier when they had been making shadow puppets after they had eaten s'mores.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" He inquired in a groggy worry.

She had her blanket wrapped around her shoulders and was slightly shivering. "It's cold," she announced.

Itachi nodded in understanding. Sakura seemed to always be cold. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Itachi stood and grabbed her sleeping mat and pillow before dragging them back by his spot as quietly as he could. Once he had arranged it neatly next to him, he pulled her down and tucked her in before throwing half of his own blanket over her. As he settled down onto his own pillow, he felt her squirm closer and wrap herself around him.

He let out a gasp as the coldness of her feet managed to find bare skin. "'Tachi are you okay?"

Once the initial shock of the cold had been processed Itachi relaxed. "Yeah I'm fine, just got back to sleep."

He felt her nod against his side as she squirmed around again before settling closer into his side for warmth. It was quiet for a moment, and Itachi lay with his eyes closed, listening to the breathing of those slumbering.

"'Tachi?" Came Sakura's quiet voice again.

"Hn?" He hummed.

"Tomorrow will Mikoto make pancakes like last year?" Sakura asked.

"Maybe," he mumbled.

"I hope so," she sighed wistfully. "And maybe we could put sprinkles and whip cream on them!"

"Mmhmm," Itachi hummed, his stomach feeling hungry at the thought of sweet deliciousness.

It fell quiet again and Itachi felt himself slipping into the beginnings of sleep when suddenly…

"'Tachi?"

"Hn?"

"Can we play in the pool tomorrow?"

"If it's nice," he answered.

Again there was a pause before…

"'Tachi?..."

It went on for what felt like all night. Itachi would think he had finally answered all the questions in the universe, his eyes and brain exhausted, but his heart unable to deny her relay of inquiry. So he continued to humor her. Most forms of answers coming out in monosyllabic grunts but Sakura was fluent in such communications of Uchiha males and did not seem to notice or mind.

"Do you like being a big brother?" She finally ended up asking.

"Yes," he answered without even thinking.

He heard her sigh. "Sasuke is lucky, I wish I had a big brother like him."

Itachi smiled slightly and shifted so his arm went around her more comfortably. "Would you like me to be your big brother?"

"Really?" She exclaimed a little too loudly. After Itachi shushed her she repeated more softly, "really?"

"Ah," he sounded in affirmation. "If you would like me to."

He could not help but smile to himself at the excited sound she had made. But he calmed her down when he told her it was time to go back to sleep. For a while she was quiet but her restless moving about told him she was still yet to fall asleep. With every accidental kick to the side each time she shifted, he was beginning to become envious of those sleeping around him. He had an exhausting week of finals and tests as he prepared for his placement tests for high school. He had ended up skipping a grade last year making him not that much farther behind Shisui.

He was just about to fall back asleep when Sakura whispered again.

"'Tachi?"

He let out a sigh and then a hum for her to go on.

He felt her tiny arms wrap around his torso as she gave him a tight hug. "You're a good big brother," She said before turning around and then finally growing still as her breathing slowed down to a restful pattern.

Itachi smiled again to himself. It was funny somehow that Sakura had felt she had needed to even ask him to be her brother. From that first summer two years ago he had always seen her like a sister. It almost worried him just how easily he had taken up that responsibility, it was not one he took lightly. Even at just fourteen years old, he would do anything for her just as he would do anything for Sasuke. And with that thought, he finally drifted off into sleep.

* * *

He was not sure how long he had been asleep for before he was rudely awakened again when he felt something, or someone wedging their way in between himself and Sakura. Itachi cracked his eyes open and turned his head to see Sasuke shimmying himself beneath the covers as he slid in between himself and Sakura. Already Sasuke's dinosaur blanket was sprawled out over Sakura's little frame.

Just before Sasuke lay down, he turned his head and gave Itachi a look that spoke of warning and betrayal. Itachi just rolled his eyes as he turned to his side and tried to fall back asleep. He loved his brother dearly, he would do anything for him, but his protective jealousy was going to cause him a headache of troubles as they got older. And Itachi knew he was going to have to be the one who cleaned up the mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thank you all for your support. It baffles me just how much people are loving this and I am so happy it lifts your spirits with all the crazy things happening in the world right now. You are all wonderful and awesome! GabyL7 mentioned she would love to see the scene at the tea party and while I am no artist whatsoever, I found myself pulling out the old sketch book and doodling something out. So far I just have a quick drawing of Sasuke in his wears but I plan to try and do everyone. I went ahead and posted what I have so far on my tumblr account. If y'all want to check it out you can find me there with the same user name kyliEisMC2 you can follow me and I will keep posting the others as I get them finished. I had a few more ideas for when they are younger so The Festival has been delayed but it will still happen. 
> 
> Up Next: The Unexpected Visitors (Feat. Madara and Izuna)
> 
> Be kind, stay well, reach out to others, and as always remember you are all excellent!


	6. The Unexpected Visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the most recent chapter The Sleep Over, team 7 has just finished 1st grade. I based their school system off the states because that is what I am familiar with. For those not familiar it goes kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. Team seven is now 7 years old (or almost in Sasuke's case since he has a summer bday he will turn 7 soon). Itachi just turned 14 since his birthday is in June and summer just started. He skipped a grade so he is about to start highschool. Shusui is 3 years above Itachi so he is 16 will turn 17 in october. This chapter takes place like a week after the sleep over.

Uchiha Corporations was not just a successful family business, it was an empire within the world of business, and Madara Uchiha was its emperor. It was when he took over his father's company at no older than twenty-two years that under his direction he expanded beyond what anyone ever thought possible. Trade, pharmaceuticals, politics, media, military, among other things, were ruled and controlled by him.

Madara lived a life entirely focused and run like a business. Every moment of his time was not to be wasted as time was money. He had little tolerance with people with the exception of a select few that he kept close. While he had no wife or children, family and blood was a heavily instilled value within his beliefs, even with his high priority of work and money. Though it was not in the usual affection, Madara trusted blood and family more than any binding contract he had ever signed. It was one of the reasons why most of his conglomerate was heavily employed and run by members of his family tree.

When Fugaku, a younger cousin to Madara, married Mikoto, Madara put him in charge of the security and law enforcement sector that Uchiha Corporations ran. It was an honor and Fugaku had done well managing the academy as well as overseeing security for most people of importance in the Konoha population, as well as most businesses. This earned him favor with Madara which meant that his household was the one Madara chose to reside in while his penthouse renovations were delayed past his return to Konoha after a month long business trip.

A single, last minute phone call announcing such arrangements had Mikoto racing through the store in a hurry to gather everything she needed for an unexpected and abrupt announcement, that Madara and his brother would be arriving that afternoon for a visit. It was almost mesmerizing how she could make rushed and panicked, last minute preparations, look graceful and as effortless as if she had all day to run her errands.

As she took a sharp turn to go down the spices and condiments section of the store, she glanced back to make sure the nearly seven year old Sasuke was keeping up with her. "Sasuke hurry up," she instructed when she noticed him lagging behind. "Madara will be arriving at the house any time now and we still have to pick Itachi up from practice."

Sasuke sent an unhappy look at his mother's back but picked up his feet a little faster. He let out an unhappy sigh as his dark eyes boredly took in the none entertaining shelves of food and brands as he followed his mother around. It was the first week of summer break and walking around grocery stores and having his uncle Madara come over was not how he wanted to spend it.

Madara was not technically his uncle, really he was a second cousin to him, but that was what he had always called him as did all of his cousins of the families that worked close with the patriarch.

Sasuke hated it when Madara came to visit. He didn't mind Izuna, he could at least sometimes ease up but Madara was all too strict and traditional. When he came, everyone was walking on eggshells. His friends were not allowed over and he was not allowed to go to his friends. That meant no Sakura or Naruto for a week.

Naruto, he could live without, in fact he wouldn't mind a break after sitting next to him for six hours a everyday for the past school year. However, not seeing Sakura? That was unacceptable. An unacceptable feature that he had no choice but to accept, all because of Madara.

* * *

The town car pulled up in front of the large mansion and Madara got out. As the chauffeur unloaded the luggage, Madara adjusted his suit as he took in the neighborhood. He frowned when he noticed a small park side event going on as the screams and cheers of children running around disrupted the peace.

"What's with the sour face?" Izuna asked, coming up next to his brother and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. He took in a deep breath. "Ahh smell that suburban fresh cut grass, it will be a perfect way to relax after that business trip we just finished. We can sit by the pool and enjoy some sun shine. Gods' knows you could use some color and hey, maybe Mikoto will cook up something perfectly satiable as she always does in the kitchen…"

Madara shrugged his brother's arm off his shoulder. "Coming home from a month long business trip of staying in hotels, to find out that my home renovations that were supposed to be finished a week ago, have been delayed another week, thus resulting in me staying in yet another foreign bed with screaming children under the same roof, is not what I would call relaxing."

Izuna rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, Sasuke and Itachi are the quietest children I have ever met, it's almost unnatural how invocal they are."

"Hn," Madara grunted as he glared at the small park fair, as if he could glare away the children running around on the jungle gym.

Izuna pointed at him. "You see that...that is not normal communication."

Madara batted his brother's pointing finger out of his face. "Come on, we can get started on those numbers and review the new contracts with some peace and quiet before everyone gets home."

"What? I thought we were on vacation?"

"This is a temporary relocation," he replied. "And besides, why are you even staying here? You have your own house to stay in. One, I might add, that we could both be at instead of here."

"Hey you know I have that stalker girl right now, it is not safe."

Madara shook his head not willing to point out that his brother had bodyguards for that. At least having him near would mean that they wouldn't have to waste time commuting from the suburbs to the city to get any work done.

* * *

Madara sat down in the living room with the TV turned to the news as he watched that day's numbers on the stock market. The house was empty, Izuna had gone off for a run to stretch his legs after the long flight which was fine by Madara. As much as Madara was wanting to start work, he needed a break from his beloved brother.

Izuna Uchiha was most likely the only person who could get away with anything around him without caring what Madara thought. Because in truth, he was immune to the consequences. While Madara kept his family close even to the far extensions of the family line, Izuna was the only one he truly was open with. Izuna was loyal not just to the company's profit, but to him. If he were to fall, Izuna would fall with him, or if given the choice, he would fall for him. Which was why Madara let him say and do nearly anything. However that did not mean Izuna did not push his buttons.

After a fourteen hour flight with no escape from his brother in the confines of the plane, followed by an hour and half car ride in traffic, Madara was done. He needed a break from the constant nagging of how he needed to liven up, how he needed to get out more, find himself a girl, settle down, produce little Madaras; everything that Madara had no interest in doing.

The front door bell chimed and Madara looked in the direction of the hall that led to the entryway. Feeling no obligation to play host in someone else's house, Madara did what he did best with things that annoyed him, he ignored it.

Again the doorbell rang followed by the tapping of someone knocking lightly. And again he ignored it, hoping they would soon go away.

After the fifth round, Madara stood with a huff and made his way down the hall. Most likely it was Izuna coming back from his run and had forgotten the passcode for the lock. With an aura that matched his dark hair and eyes, he wrenched the door open, ready to give his brother an earful.

However, the moment the door opened, he found himself utterly speechless as he found not his brother, but instead a small child with a rainbow backpack and unicorn themed sundress standing on the front door step. At first, all he did was stare down at the head of cotton candy pink. But then her small head tilted up to look at him and he was greeted with a heart shaped face that framed a pair of large eyes. The shock of green in her irises took him off guard and again, all he could do was stare back before her mouth turned up into a smile and she stuck out her hand.

"Hello, I'm Sakura," she said brightly. There was not a single sign of hesitation in her greeting as most children did when in his presence. Most children could hardly utter a syllable in his presence. "May I ask who you are?"

Her voice was still sweet but it held a tone that suggested she was challenging his presence at the house, as if she had more right to be here than him. Madara's brow rose but he found himself extending his hand and grasping her offered hand as if he was meeting with a fellow business man.

"Madara Uchiha," he rumbled deeply.

Sakura nodded her candy colored head. "Nice to meet you Mr. Madara!" She said before entering the threshold, forcing him to take a step to the side as she confidently intruded on his precious alone time. "You know Mr. Madara, my mom says it's rude to take so long to answer a door," she informed him as she took off her shoes and neatly placed them on the floor before walking down the hall. "But maybe you didn't know that so I can let it pass this time."

She turned around and gave him a quizzical look when she saw him still holding the door open as he stared at her.

"Mr. Madara, you can close the door now," she informed him as she pointed to the open door.

Madara broke from his dazed confusion and shut the door closed with a snap at her instruction. She gave him a thumbs up and continued down the hall.

"Who exactly are you?" he finally managed to ask as he followed her down the hall.

* * *

Madara sat in the large chair in the living room, his ankle crossed over his knee as he stiffly sat and stared at the girl sitting in the middle of the floor and staring up at the TV screen. The screen, now displaying some sort of documentary about slugs that he found almost perplexing that a four year old would find interesting….or maybe she was five.

"How old did you say you were?" He asked, causing the girl to look at him.

Her green eyes unnerved him. They were too...he wanted to say commanding but that was not quite the right word.

"Seven," she replied before looking back at the documentary on the screen.

He looked at her skeptically, failing to believe that the small child was that old. Then again, he didn't know much about children. He heard the garage door opening and he nearly jumped up from the chair, eager for Mikoto's return. But he was sorely disappointed when a sweaty Izuna walked into the room, coming to an abrupt stop when he spotted the small form sitting cross legged in the middle of the floor.

"Ummm...What is that?" He asked as Madara grabbed his arm and dragged him into the kitchen.

"It's a Sakura," he replied automatically.

"A Sakura?" Izuna asked in confusion.

Madara shook his head. "Some child Mikoto was supposed to be watching today."

"Oh...what do we do with it?" he asked after a long moment of confused observation.

Madara looked at him. "I don't know. There is a reason why I don't have kids." He peeked in at the girl who was still watching the television. He turned back to his brother, only to find him leaning into his personal space to look at the girl as well. He nudged him away with a finger, touching the least amount of his soiled workout shirt as possible. "Is it necessary that we do anything? It has been perfectly fine watching its show for the past fifteen minutes."

Izuna looked at him. "Did you feed it?"

Madara nearly sneered at him. "Why would I feed it?"

Izuna looked at his watch. "Well it's lunch time. Don't kids need to eat a lot since they're growing?"

"Like this one even grows," Madara mumbled under his breath. But all the same, he found himself asking, "What do they eat?"

Izuna shrugged. "I don't know mashed carrots?"

Madara glared at him. "It's not an infant." He at least knew that much.

"Pizza then?" Izuna tried again.

"They have elephant ears at the fair!"

The two older men startled at the sudden high pitched voice that sounded right next to them. They both looked down to find Sakura staring up at them. She looked from Madara to Izuna, then held out a small hand.

"Hello," she said cheerily. "My name is Sakura. What is yours?"

Izuna stared at the small hand before taking it. "Izuna," he answered, looking to Madara with a raised brow.

Madara only shrugged his shoulders. He too had just gone through this not long ago when he opened the front door. She had politely introduced herself, asked for his name, gave him an etiquette lesson, then announced that her mother had dropped her off since Mikoto was going to watch her for the day.

If he were perfectly honest it was quite impressive mannerisms. She had potential for being the perfect business deal closer, even with her pink hair. There was just something about her gaze that Madara just knew people could not say no to. If she kept it up, he might just overlook the hair and hire her when she was old enough.

"There is a fair going on in the park today," Sakura elaborated when neither adult managed to figure out what to do or say next. "I saw it when my mom dropped me off. We can get elephant ears there," she informed them, looking at them expectantly.

Madara blinked at her, ignorant as to what in the world an elephant ear was.

"There is a fair?" Izuna could not help but express hopefully. His habit of procrastination spotting an opportunity to arise, even if it involved a three foot child.

"Izuna," Madara said sharply. "We have work to do."

Madara had already planned to be on the phone by now and go over numbers with his brother in the afternoon when he was back from his run. They had an agenda to stick to and babysitting was not part of it. He knew what his brother was doing by engaging the girl and he was not going to have it.

Silently they had a conversation as they looked at each other, both of them arguing with looks and facial expressions as the girl watched them quietly. After winning the battle, Madara looked down at the girl, ready to tell her to find a snack in the kitchen and not bother them until Mikoto was back. But then he looked into her eyes. Those eyes that he had already decided he didn't trust himself to look into but could not resist.

* * *

It turned out that an elephant ear was nothing but a deep fried piece of dough covered in cinnamon sugar with an assortment of toppings that could be added. Madara sat at the park picnic table across from the small girl as she happily sat next to his brother. All three of them sat with a plate in front of them with a portion of deep fried, diabetics nightmare in front of them.

Madara's was left untouched as he watched the small girl devour the piece of fried dough bigger than her head. She had piled whip cream and chocolate syrup on hers which was now all over her fingers as she happily gazed at Izuna who ate his own elephant ear with nearly as much gusto.

Madara raised a brow at her when she finished and gave him a bright smile before asking if he was going to eat his. Madara was able to resist her green eyed stare for a whole three seconds before he found himself pushing his plate across the table to her eagerly awaiting hands.

* * *

Again, he was not sure how it happened, but ten minutes later, Madara was standing alone with her next to a stall with games and prizes. He was looking around, waiting for Izuna to finish throwing away the trash before they went back to the house when he felt a tug on his hand. He looked down to where the short girl was looking up at him. As she continued to hold onto his hand, she pointed to the game booth next to them where a large stuffed animal was on display.

"Mr. Madara, I want that," she said.

It was not a beg, it was not a demand, nor was it a plea. She had said it in a plain, factual tone that anyone would comment on the weather with. Yet, somehow, Madara found himself compelled, and before he knew it, he was walking up to the vendor.

"How much for the-" he gave the stuffed animal a dark glare before begrudgingly vocalizing- "teal striped, sparkly slug?" _Honestly, what was with this kid and slugs,_ he thought to himself.

The man shook his head. "You gotta win it. Two dollars per round, knock down all the targets with the ninja stars and it's yours."

Madara frowned. "How about I just pay you twice as much as its worth and you just give it to me."

The man frowned and shook his head. "Sorry but you gotta win it fair and square."

Madara glared at the man but took his eyes away when he felt another tug on his sleeve. He looked down to find Sakura staring up at him.

"I can do it!" She said eagerly. "I play ninja with Sasuke and Naruto all the time! 'Tachi says I am the best!"

Madara looked up at the vendor who was giving him a smirk. Madara returned his smugness with a dark look which caused the man to become uneasy. But even with his dominance reestablished, Madara found himself slamming two bills onto the table before bending down to lift Sakura up onto the stool. The man handed over some dulled and poorly balanced shuriken as he looked smugly at the pink haired girl.

* * *

"Oh too bad," the vendor, who was all too ignorant as to how close he was to being pulled over his stall table and being throttled, mocked in fake sympathy. "Maybe this next time," he added holding his hand out for two more dollars.

As it turned out, Sakura was not as great as she made herself out to be, that or her usual competition did not set a high standard. Madara opened his empty wallet then looked to Izuna. He gave his brother a look that had Izuna fishing into his pockets to procure his own wallet and pull out some bills to hand over to the vendor. Sakura gleefully gave him a smile as she was presented with another set of shuriken to throw. Just as she was about to throw the first one, Madara stopped her.

"Remember," he said, fixing her hold and realigning her arm. "Line up the point with your pointer finger."

She nodded, then with a look of determination, she hurtled it into the air. With a loud clang it hit the target and the duck outline fell over. She let out a glee of victory, Izuna cheered, and Madara silently thanked the gods she had finally hit something.

"Good shot," commented the vendor. "Only four more."

It took ten more dollars before Sakura finally knocked four down in a row.

"Common Sakura you have this!" Izuna cheered enthusiastically as she aimed for the last target.

Madara stayed silent but stood behind, watching her proudly as she masterfully gripped the shuriken, aimed, and threw. With precision it flew through the air and struck the final target with a metallic ping. At the sound they all cheered, Sakura squealing gleefully as her eyes lightened as she looked around to her cheer squad. But it was all halted when the target popped back up abruptly as if it had never been hit.

"Aw too bad," the vendor said. "One more try?"

Sakura looked up at the man in confusion. "But I knocked it down?" She said in a small voice, pointing to where the target was still steadying itself after its reset .

The vendor pointed to the target. "Not good enough it seems."

Sakura frowned, tears slowly building in her eyes as she glared at him. "But that's not fair! You're cheating!" She shouted as she slammed her hands on the counter, trying and failing to look intimidating. It was like looking at a fluffy pink kitten trying to look like a tiger with her rainbows and unicorn themed attire instead of fierce tiger stripes.

"Sorry kid, life's not—" The man snapped his mouth shut as he noticed the expressions of the men standing behind her. Their eyes were narrowed, nearly glowing with a dangerous blood thirst that he could have sworn had turned their eyes literally red with rage. "Um, ya know what, you're right kid, you did knock it down. I must have seen it wrong. Here," he took down the stuffed slug and handed it over to her as he nervously nodded to the men looming behind her.

Sakura's expression immediately brightened as she wrapped her arms around the fluffy slug, admiring the piece of sparkly material hanging from its tail to mimic a trail of slime.

"You know what, take this too!" The man added, taking down a purple stuffed snake and handing it over when Izuna pointed to it with narrowed eyes. "It's for um...playing so many games."

Sakura struggled to take the snake, wrapping it over her neck like a scarf as she looked at the man. "Really!" She said brightly. "Gee thanks!"

She gave him a bright smile, which looked angelic and so out of place when grouped with the two demon faces lurking behind her. She turned around to Izuna and Madara, their expressions altering instantly as she proudly displayed her winnings. But then something else caught her eye and she hopped down from the stool to run over to another vendor game.

Dancing on her toes she turned back to the two men. "Can we play this one too?" She asked. "I promise I am really good at it!"

* * *

Itachi had just gotten into the car when Mikoto's phone rang. As he slowly buckled himself into the back seat next to an unhappy looking Sasuke, his mother answered the phone.

"Mikoto!" Came Mebuki's voice through the receiver. "I just wanted to thank you again for watching Sakura while Kizashi and I are in the city today. We should be back a little after dinner time. I'm sorry I didn't say hello when I dropped her off this morning but we were running late. Did she get in all right? She hasn't been any trouble has she?"

Mikoto went ashen as she listened to her friend and something dawned on her mind. She had forgotten. She had entirely forgotten that Sakura was supposed to be in her care for the day. In the chaos of the announcement of Madara and Izuna's arrival today, she had completely forgotten to tell Mebuki she couldn't watch Sakura today. And then dread hit her again as she realized Sakura was not just alone, but she was alone with Madara and Izuna! Izuna may be okay but Madara...there was no way the little girl stood a chance to deal with him and his dark personification. And even if she did manage to not be afraid of him, knowing Sakura, she would not know the line nor boundaries in which others were required to skirt around when in his presence. If she crossed the barrier, the poor innocent girl would be eaten alive.

"Mikoto? Hello?"

"Yeah," Mikoto suddenly said. "I mean of course she hasn't been any trouble at all. In fact she is fine…" she shot a glance at Itachi and Sasuke who were looking at her with a concerned look. "Perfectly fine! Anyways I have a cake in the oven gotta go! Take care and have fun!"

Mikoto hung up, quickly hoping that her friend bought her assurance that things were fine. Because things certainly would not be. Sakura was sweet and managed to charm even Fugaku on occasion. But Madara was a whole other level of stoic that when broken, was only in fits of rage.

"Mom?" Itachi asked. "Are you okay?"

Mikoto looked at him. "Buckle up we have to get home!"

* * *

Mikoto pulled into the driveway and slammed on the breaks, the SUV only halfway into the garage before she was cutting off the ignition. Sasuke was the first to reach it, quickly entering the code on the keypad, he impatiently waited for the click of the lock before he practically wrenched the door open in his haste to get inside and rescue his Sakura from his uncles.

Mikoto was not exactly sure what she was expecting when they pulled up to the house but her imagination had covered just about everything. From Sakura bursting from the front door, running in terror as if she had just escaped a haunted mansion, to having her still sitting on the porch step, waiting to be let in. Once or twice on her race home, she may have imagined driving up to her find her drive way full emergency vehicles with their flashing lights on and walking in to find a murder scene in the middle of her living room. While those were just wild imaginations, she had expected to at least hear Madara's roaring voice or Sakura crying somewhere in a hidden corner of the house. But she heard none of that when she stepped inside. In fact, the house was rather quiet and calm. A feature that still did not bring her any comfort.

However, as she stepped fully into the house, she realized that maybe the mansion was not quite as silent as she thought. Coming from the dining room area, she heard a low rumble of voices, followed by a higher more cheerful one replying. Immediately Sasuke was moving, having easily recognized Sakura's cheer and Mikoto and Itachi were not far behind.

"If there was a park next to it, people could take them on walks and play with them so they would be more happy and wag their tails more. I think people would buy more puppies if their tails wagged mo一"

Sasuke had just wrenched the traditional shoji doors open that accessed the dining room when he froze. Mikoto came up behind him and took in the scene before her. On one side of her magnificently crafted dining table, were Madara and Izuna as they sat in front of their laptops, typing away as papers, sticky notes and notebooks littered the table surface. Halfway across the table, paper with finely typed lines and calculated graphs transformed into crayola colored drawings and candy wrappers, covering the table where Sakura sat opposite of them. Sitting in the two empty chairs next to her were a handful of variously stuffed animals in all fabrics and sizes, along with a large bag of candy. Sakura herself was holding a large lollipop as she drew what was a crude mockery of a line graph. One axis had a gradient level measured by varying degrees of frowny and smiley faces. On the other axis was a sticker of a puppy while on the actual graph was an exponentially growing line, indicating a correlation between a higher quantity of puppies and more happy looking smiley faces.

At the sound of the shoji door sliding open, Sakura immediately stopped her talking while Madara and Izuna paused in their typing to look up at the Uchiha mother and her two sons. Sakura spun around, her green eyes brightening as she caught sight of Sasuke.

"Sasuke!" she exclaimed, grabbing the purple snake in the chair next to her before sliding out of her own chair and running up to him. "I won this for you," she announced as she held the stuffed snake out for him.

However Sasuke, too preoccupied with staring at the two figures who were watching his pink haired friend, Madara with an all too curious expression.

"Sasuke, I really like your uncles! They let me eat anything I wanted and we played so many games, then they showed me the new mall that they are designing and I was just telling them how if they have a puppy store..." Sakura earned Sasuke's usually undivided attention the moment she had uttered her fondness of his uncles, but the rest of her rambling had gone unheard as he frowned at her glowing and happy face.

Taking the snake that she was still holding out to him, he snatched her hand and started dragging her to the door.

"Oh but...Sorry I have to go now," Sakura said, waving her free hand back at Izuna and Madara as she was dragged away from them.

When Sasuke noticed the fond smile Sakura still had when Izuna waved to her, he scowled at them. Never in his life had he ever dared to look them in the eye, but at the sign of fondness in Sakura's eyes, he had to protect what was his. He was already sharing Sakura enough these days, there was not enough to go around to every Uchiha in his family. Especially a greedy Uchiha like Madara.

As he pulled Sakura into the hall, his spiked head turned to look back at Madara who was looking at him with disapproval. Sasuke narrowed his eyes even more as he glared at Madara sitting behind his computer, not happy that his nephew was taking away one of the best idea generators he had since starting this mall project. Then with one final tug, Sasuke pulled Sakura away with him.

Madara stared at the now empty hallway, taken aback by the near hostility in the young boy's eyes. Sasuke had never seemed to be a daring or brave one, always tagging after his brother like a shadow. While Itachi had always been on his list of priority recruitment, Madara had never even considered Sasuke of having any potential in the cut throat world of business. But now, maybe the kid had some potential. It was something he was certainly curious to test and watch develop with the years to come.

* * *

"Stay away from my uncles," Sasuke commanded when he had firmly shut his bedroom door, adding another barricade between her and his uncles.

He had not liked that curious glint in Madara's eyes. He was still young, but even he understood that being in Madara's radar was not exactly the best thing. Yes he ran a highly successful business empire, but even in his young age Sasuke knew that there was a dark world being run by the Uchiha head within the shadows of his public actions. One that Sasuke did not want Sakura a part of or to even know of. It might change her opinion of him and his family.

"But I like them," she protested. "Madara taught me how to throw ninja stars and Izuna…" she drifted off as she bit her lip and looked down at her feet. "I like looking at Izuna...he's so handsome."

Sasuke scrunched his nose in disgust. "That's gross, he's old and probably has tons of cooties. Don't look at him anymore."

Sakura peeked up at him as she dug her toe into the carpet. "But he looks like you," she said shyly.

Sasuke froze with his mouth open as he was about to retort when the implication of her words hit him. Suddenly he felt his cheeks warm and his stomach flipped. Not liking this sudden and foreign sensation, he scowled at her.

"Just do as I say and keep away from them," he said, before adding as casually as he could, "And if you like looking at him just look at me instead, you said yourself he looks like me so what would be the difference."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, June was just not my month so I did not have a lot of time to write and I will be honest I kept reworking the ending several times because it just wasn't working for me. I think Izuna may be a little OOC in this but I have to admit I am not as familiar with him. I am only half way through Shippuden so I have not seen as much as him, so he kind of ended up a little like Shisui. 
> 
> Thank you all for your kind words and support! I love reading your reactions and thoughts they totally make my days! Y'all are the best. And big thanks to Mylady hokage who had put in this request, I am sure it did not turn out how you imagined it but I hope you still liked the interpretation. 
> 
> Coming up next: The Camp Out. Sasuke and Naruto will be joining Sakura and her family on their annual camp out before school starts. We will be having a small time jump here to just before they start middle school where I have several ideas for before moving on to high school. 
> 
> Remember all to be kind to one another and keep yourselves safe. Continue to be excellent!


	7. The Camp Out

"...we are going to sleep in tents that we will set up and it's going to be awesome! I hope the weather is nice tonight because then we can have the rain flap off the top and it's like sleeping under the stars, but without having to deal with the bugs because you have the netting in the tent to-"

"I know what camping is, Dobe," Sasuke growled between clenched teeth, silencing Naruto's long winded jabbering. "I just haven't ever gone."

"Well yeah, but you can't know what it's like to go camping until you've actually…"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and glared out the car window as he tuned out his blonde friend's rambling. Ever since Sakura had invited them to come on her family's camping trip, and Naruto found out that Sasuke had never gone camping in his twelve years of life, Naruto had not shut up once, acting like the three times his family had gone glamping made him an expert. Sasuke may have not ever gone camping, but he certainly knew there was a difference between sleeping in a tent on the ground, versus staying in an RV with air conditioning and WIFI as Naruto's family did.

It wasn't Sasuke's fault he had never gone camping. It was just not something Uchiha's did for vacation. They went to lake resorts and ski lodges. They stayed in five star hotels that had Michelin star standard kitchens and world renowned chefs. They went to exotic beaches and fully developed cities all over the world. However, what they did _not_ do was go to the forest to sleep on the dirt and get eaten by bugs.

If he was truly honest, when Sakura first brought it up he was not enthused. Though Sakura hardly noticed given his recent development in keeping his face stoic at all times. In his younger years he had not been as polished in the art of keeping his face emotionless like his brother and father, but recently he had a new drive. As he grew older, he started feeling new things and new emotions that he was not sure how to handle, so instead of dealing with them, he hid them. Unfortunately this new thing called puberty, that had started over the summer, was not helping with keeping some of those feelings in check.

However despite his lack of enthusiasm, he knew that this vacation was something Sakura always held dearly to her heart. Unlike his family, her family did not have money flowing into their accounts like his or Naruto's families. As a small child he had never noticed, but as he had grown older, he began to notice things. Her neighborhood was not as nice, her house was not as large, and both of her parents were always working. This is why Sakura loved this trip so much, because she got an entire week with her parents. And because it was something Sakura loved, Sasuke found himself wanting to be a part of it.

Although the main reason why he was going, was so that it was not just Naruto going with her. If Sasuke was not there, Naruto would end up walking into a bees nest and given his wild nature, would most likely make the bees even more angry. Sakura would end up getting caught up in the swarm while Naruto ran away, leaving her to get hurt. And if not bees, he would somehow manage to get into trouble some other way and the result would be the same, Sakura getting hurt because she would try to help him. At least that is how Sasuke rationalized his coming and enduring the hot and buggy forest, while sleeping on the ground with a snoring Naruto right next to his ear.

He moved his eyes from the blur of trees and rocks as Sakura's dad drove them through the winding mountain road and looked to Sakura. She was happily smiling as she stared out the front window from her spot in the middle seat of her family's outback. As if sensing his stare, she turned her head and looked at him. The moment her green eyes met his dark ones, her mouth split into a wide grin, revealing the metallic arrangement of her new braces.

She had gotten them at the beginning of the summer. At first, Sakura hardly smiled after getting them and Sasuke had thought it was because her teeth hurt from the adjustments. But over time, he realized it was because she was self conscious. Despite his new habit of seeming stoic and brooding, he had done everything in his own subtle way to try and make her confident enough to smile fully again. It had been a long process but after an entire summer's time, she was back to giving him the genuine happy smile that Sakura always wore growing up. And he was relieved to have it back. There was just something about it that made everything seem right in the world.

As he took in the metallic grin she gave him, he couldn't help but give her the smallest of smiles back which she seemed satisfied with. As if his smile energized her more, she sat back against the car seat and looped her arms between both his and Naruto's.

"This is going to be the best camping year ever!" she declared.

* * *

"Ahhhh," Naruto sighed in content as he dropped his sleeping back into the center of the tent and laid out on top of it.

"Dobe you're not sleeping there," Sasuke informed as he dropped his and Sakura's bedding down onto Naruto's face.

Naruto began to frantically dig himself out of the tidal wave of extra blankets Sakura had brought for herself.

"What do you mean not sleeping here! I can sleep wherever I want and we already decided in the car we were all staying in the same tent, despite what her dad said!"

"We aren't all going to fit if you hog the middle," Sasuke deadpanned.

"Then sleep outside fatty!" Naruto shot back.

"Naruto!"

The blonde instantly stiffened as the feminine, but oh so dangerous voice of their female friend sounded. Then she appeared at the tent's door flap. Bending as she crouched into the tent, she swung at him. He dodged her fist only to get kicked in the shin.

"That is not okay!" she reprimanded. "We do not shame people for how they look!"

"Sorry Sakura! It was just a joke!" Naruto quickly apologized before Sakura could try and take a swing at him again. "Besides! It's not like it's actually true."

"You don't know how another person feels about their body," she lectured, jabbing a finger into his chest. "You may be joking, but they might actually believe or already think what you are saying."

Ever since Sakura had taken the self defense camp for girls a few weeks ago at the police academy, her already unnatural strength, now paired with accuracy, had become quite powerful. Recently, the two boys had noticed an increase in their beatings as well. There were certain things that they were becoming less and less able to freely talk about. They hadn't figured out the exact reason, but two things they were certain of. It started at the end of the school year when they were separated into two different groups and informed of some changes that were about to take place in their bodies. And the second was when they started to notice the changes that had been happening lately to them and their peers. There were just certain subjects that Sakura shut down quickly and anything on a person's body image was one of them.

"Don't let me catch you saying those things to others!" she warned. "Now both of you finish up here so we can be done with setting up sooner."

They both nodded and she was gone in an instant again. Together they both let out a small sigh of relief. There was a pause, then simultaneously, they both looked at each other and immediately started their quarrel back up, only this time more quietly.

After some squabbling, it was decided that Sasuke and Naruto would sleep next to each other while Sakura, being the shortest, slept at the top with her pillow neatly laid down next to Sasuke's. That last detail resulted from a rearrangement that Sasuke had taken upon himself after Naruto had first arranged her bedding for her.

As Sasuke crawled out of the tent from his final switching of sleeping positions, it was to find Naruto wielding a hefty, staff-like branch. He slammed the end of it into the dirt and propped his foot up on the stacked firewood.

"Let's go on a hike," he declared with a pose.

Sasuke wrinkled his nose at the suggestion. After the hot car ride then the grueling task of unpacking, all Sasuke wanted to do was jump into the crystal clear water of the lake they were currently camping by. But as soon as he saw the bright and eager look of Sakura, he supposed it would make sense to hike first, swim later.

With Sakura's parents wanting to stay behind and enjoy the lake while her dad fished, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura went out on their own, walking through the campgrounds to where the hiking trails were located, ready to start their week of adventures.

* * *

"We're lost!" Naruto cried out with dismay.

Both Sasuke and Sakura stared at him with weary looks as they watched the somehow half stripped Naruto running around. One moment he would be piling sticks together and the next, striking random rocks together as if he were striking flint to steel. Around his head he wore a strip of cloth he had ripped from his now cropped tee-shirt and tied it around his head like he was Rambo in the jungle. When neither of them moved or showed any kind of distress similar to his, Naruto turned to them.

"What are you two standing there for?" he questioned. "Start gathering dry wood! We need to make a fire and find shelter." He pointed a gnarled stick at Sakura. "You know about all these plants, find berries!" He pointed the other, more straighter stick at Sasuke. "Go find some branches to create a roof for a lean-to!"

Again when neither of them moved, Naruto threw his hands up in the air.

"What are you waiting for!? Do you want to die?"

Sakura let out a wistful sigh and looked at Sasuke who was pinching the bridge of his nose now. "Do you want to tell him?" she offered.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted as he shook his head in disgust.

Sakura nodded and let her head tilt back to Naruto. "Naruto," she began. She had to repeat herself three times until he finally looked at her, paused in digging through the ground as he held up a worm, readying to eat it in the name of 'survival'. She pointed to a spot five meters from where they stood. "The path is right there."

Naruto jumped up as his sky blue eyes were thrown up to the sky. "Oh thank the gods!" he said as he ran towards them.

"We were only off the trail for ten minutes一" Sasuke's low grumble was cut short as Naruto torpedoed himself between them as he ran towards the path.

"We're saved!" he yelled out, knocking both Sasuke and Sakura to the ground as he shoved them aside.

"Dobe!" Sasuke grumbled again. He got back up and stepped over to offer Sakura a hand up, only to notice then that her face was scrunched in pain as she grabbed her ankle and let out a hiss. "Sakura are you okay," he quickly questioned as he kneeled down to her level.

His fingers reached out to touch it but she stopped him. "No don't touch it, I think it's sprained."

"Sakura, you need to be more careful," came Naruto's voice from above.

Sasuke tilted his head to glare up at him. "This is your fault dobe! You pushed her down."

"Oh...hehe, sorry Sakura," Naruto said with a bashful rubbing of the back of his head.

"It's fine Naruto, you didn't mean it. I really should一"

She was cut off when Sasuke gave her a glare. Recently Sakura had been developing a habit of apologizing when it was not her fault. Sasuke didn't mind her sweet nature, in fact it was one of the things that he liked most about her. But over this summer, ever since she had gotten her braces, he noticed her forming a habit of being apologetic and lacking confidence. This he was not okay with.

"Don't apologize to him," Sasuke growled.

"Sorr一"

He sent her another glare which caused her mouth to go quiet and Sasuke silently looked at her ankle.

"I don't think it's too bad," she said, causing him to look up at her. "It's already starting to feel better." She started to get up, grabbing onto Naruto to help her stand. "I think I just twisted it. If I get up and walk on it a bit, I should be一what are you doing?"

While she explained away her injury, Sasuke had grabbed her arms as he spun around and pulled her towards him before couching down to the ground. He twisted his head to look up at her expectantly, her hands on his shoulders.

When she made no move, he let out a grunt. "Hurry up and just get on."

Sakura's face warmed. "Sasuke I really don't think it's necessary. I can walk myself maybe just一"

Sasuke pulled her forward until her arms were wrapped around his neck in a tight hug as he stood up and grabbed her legs. She let out a small squeal and tightened her hold when he adjusted her abruptly.

"It's already late," he argued as he started walking towards the trail. "You will just slow us down if you walk," he rationalized with a monotone.

"Oh, okay," Sakura hesitantly agreed, not wanting to be a burden on any one.

Sasuke kept his face straight as Naruto took the lead. The blonde cast a couple of glances back at him and Sasuke stonily walked with Sakura hugging on to him.

"Sorry if I'm heavy," Sakura quietly apologized.

"Hn," Sasuke answered, "you're not."

"Oi, Sasuke, when you get tired I will take Sakura the rest of the way," Naruto said, flexing the preteen muscles he didn't have yet.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Like he was going to let that oaf carry her. Naruto would probably drop her off a cliff this time.

But any other thoughts of what Naruto might do were lost when Sasuke nearly tripped over himself as Sakura's chin came to rest on his shoulder. Her breath tickled his ear, causing him to miss a step. But he hid it by making a show of readjusting her weight again as he kept his increasingly, reddening face, forward.

"Thanks Sasuke," Sakura said so quietly, only he could hear. "You're the best."

He couldn't help the small smile that came to his face when she felt her arms tighten and loosen in a small gesture of a hug. Yeah, he was definitely not letting Naruto carry her.

* * *

Sasuke was laying on his back as he tried his best to fall asleep. Or at least somewhat restful sleep as it was the only kind one could hope for when sleeping on the hard ground. There was a rock sticking right into the middle of his back and it seemed every time he readjusted to avoid said spot, there was just another stick or rock somewhere else to jab into a part of his body. At about two in the morning, he had fallen into what some would claim a sleeping state, when he was rudely woken with a sharp jab into his shoulder.

"Yo Sasuke."

As soon as he heard the voice of Naruto in his ear, Sasuke suppressed a growl of annoyance. Squinting his eyes tight, Sasuke pretended to remain asleep, hoping that the other boy would give up and go back to bed. Unfortunately, this was Naruto he was talking about. Naruto never gave up.

"Teme," Naruto continued with another poke, this time into his cheek.

Sasuke shifted to his side, still not acknowledging Naruto as he mimicked a soft snore.

"Hey bastard."

Naruto gave him a particular hard jab into the middle of his back that caused him to flinch.

"Hn?" Sasuke finally hummed in annoyance as he tried to ignore the ache that was radiating in the center of his spine.

"You awake?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes beneath his closed lids before grabbing his pillow and pulling it over his head. "No, go back to sleep."

"Hey!" Naruto practically shouted, "if you're asleep then why are you talking!" And again Sasuke felt a pointy finger dig into him.

Sasuke shot up and glared at the blonde's silhouette as it was the only thing he could make out in the dim light. "Be quiet," Sasuke hissed lowley when he heard Sakura rustle around in her sleep. "You're going to wake Sakura."

"But I have to go to the bathroom!"

"And?" Sasuke drawled before he moved to lay back down. "Thanks for the update, let me know when your stomach growls too," he added sarcastically.

"I don't want to go by myself, what if a bear comes out?"

"Naruto, you stink so much any bear that you come within ten miles of will be running the opposite direction."

"Common Sasuke, it's dark now, what if I get lost?"

"I am NOT holding your hand while you go to the bathroom because you are afraid of the dark. Just hold it until the morning."

"Fine," he heard Naruto say before there was a rustling. Sasuke was just laying his head back down on his pillow after getting re-situated, when he heard Naruto's voice again. "Hey Sakura..."

Sasuke twisted around. "Naruto leave her-"

There was a muffled groan and shifting of a sleeping bag. "N-naruto?" Sakura mumbled sleepily. "What time is it? What's wrong?"

"I need to go to the bathroom," he heard Naruto begin, "come with me."

There was a tired sigh. "Okay."

Sasuke was immediately back up. Like hell he was going to make Sakura go with the Dobe. Walking outside in the dark with a twisted ankle was the last thing she needed to be doing.

"Fine Naruto," Sasuke snapped. "If you have to go so badly I will go if it will stop your whining." He started pulling on his shoes as Naruto unzipped the tent. Sasuke paused when he noticed Sakura crawling over their bags to the opening. "Sakura you stay here, I will go with the idiot."

Sakura shook her head. "I don't want to stay here alone! You guys are taking the only flashlight and what if a bear comes?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Honestly, what was with these two and bears? He was pretty certain there weren't even bears in this area. He let out a sigh and finished pulling on his shoes and jacket before grabbing the flashlight they both had forgotten and crawled out of the tent.

* * *

"This should be good enough," Sasuke said. "Just go behind that tree."

"No that's too close! What if Sakura sees me!"

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. "Maybe you should have thought of that before deciding to bring her along," he deadpanned.

"Naruto I can turn around," Sakura offered. "I promise I won't peek."

"But what if you hear me!"

Sasuke let out a sigh, it was going to be morning by the time they got back at this rate. He shoved the flash light into Naruto's hand.

"Just hurry up and go find a spot so we can all go back to sleep instead of baby sitting you because you're too scared to pee on a tree," Sasuke growled. "Honestly, at this rate we should have just walked to the actual bathrooms like I suggested in the first place!"

"Fine, fine I'm going!" Naruto quickly said as he began walking away and muttering something about using nature's lavatory was more manly.

As Naruto's crunching of dead leaves and snapping of branches and twigs beneath his tromping feet died down and the beam of the flashlight disappeared, Sasuke and Sakura were left with nothing but the chirping of crickets and cicadas to fill the silence between them. Sakura fidgeted with the hem of her pajama shorts before wrapping her arms around herself. It had been a hot day but up here in the mountains with the sun down, it had gotten cooler.

"Are you cold?"

Sakura turned her head to where Sasuke was standing a little away from her. The moon light was bright but the heavy canopy of trees above filtered the light so much she could just barely make him out.

"I will be fine," she assured. But even as she said it there was a small breeze that caused her to shiver.

She heard him give out a sigh of annoyance as he muttered something that she believed voiced that annoyance as he shrugged out of his sweatshirt and handed it over.

"Oh I don't–"

"Just take it Sakura," he grumped.

She took the offered garment and slipped into it, relishing the warmth as she zipped it up. However when she noticed him slightly shiver, she instantly felt bad.

She knew that this was not exactly what Sasuke wanted to be doing this week, but she could not deny she had been more than thrilled when he had agreed to come. She would have enjoyed the week with just Naruto but there was just something about all three of them being together that made the perfect dynamic. Ever since she had moved to the neighborhood the three of them had stuck together through thick and thin. If he had not been here it just wouldn't be the same. However as much as she loved his presence she couldn't help but feel like she was becoming a burden on him. Especially after today when he had carried her the five miles back to the camp ground after twisting her ankle and now as he sacrificed his comfort because of her own carelessness to grab her own coat.

His voice suddenly came through the darkness again. "How is your ankle?"

Sakura twisted it around, testing it out. "It's fine now, a bit stiff but the ice pack you made seems to have helped it a lot. She heard him let out a low hum before falling silent again. It was only a moment later when Sakura noticed just how silent it had gotten. The usual nightly chirping of insects had fallen practically silent and there was a sudden stillness in the air. Automatically she began to think of the horror movies they had watched this past summer that all started like this. A group of people standing in the dark woods...right before some killer clown or machete wielding masked man jumped out at them. Just as she was telling herself that only happened in movies, there was a sudden snap of a twig behind her. Instantly Sakura was attaching herself to Sasuke.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered, hugging his arm to her chest.

Sasuke did not make a sound, doing his best to ignore the thundering in his own chest. He wasn't afraid of the dark, however, he was wary of the things in the dark that made noises right before they jumped out and attacked you. But of course he would never admit that out loud. And he would never let Sakura know that he was nervous of anything. Wrapping an arm around Sakura and pulling her close, comforting not just her but himself in the process. He took a step closer to the sound and strained his eyes to see through the dark.

"N-naruto?" Sakura called quietly next to him.

When there was no reply, Sasuke took it upon himself to call in her stead.

"Naruto?" He called, keeping his newly changing voice deep and hoping it would not spontaneously crack as he had started to notice it did lately. Just another reason why he had taken up the stoic and more silent roll recently. "Naruto!" He called again. "This isn't funny, you're scaring Saku–"

"What are you guys looking at?"

The hairs on the backs of their necks rose as a chill ran down their spins and they both whirled around as they each let out a dueted scream, which was then turned into a trio as Naruto, who had come up behind them, let out a scream as well.

Naruto's scream soon turned into a groan as Sakura instinctually threw her fist into his stomach, turned on her heel and bolted back towards the camp. Sasuke moved to run after her but was stopped when Naruto latched onto him.

"What's going on!" He said in alarm. "Why is she running!"

When Sasuke finally realized it was Naruto and _not_ a killer clown grabbing onto him, Sasuke wrenched his hand free and shoved Naruto. "Because of you, you idiot. Where have you been! And why did you sneak up on us and try to scare her! You know she doesn't like the dark!"

"The flashlight died," Naruto defended. "I had a hard time finding you guys and then I heard you guys yelling out to me and that's when I found you!"

"Whatever! You were lurking, breaking sticks and making noises to try and scare us!" Sasuke accused, pointing in the direction the noises had come from.

In the darkness Sasuke barely made out Naruto's confused face. "But I didn't come from that way! I swear that wasn't me!" He added when Sasuke gave him a look of disbelief.

"Yeah? Then what was it a bear–"

There was a snap of a large branch followed by a rustling of leaves in the bushes next to them. Both boys looked at each other with wide eyes and at the sound of something crunching they both bolted. Each of them letting out a scream as they ran.

It did not take them long before they caught up to Sakura. Without saying anything, they both grabbed a hand of hers as the three of them continued to run away, none of them bothering to look back and notice that what their imaginations had decided was a killer bear, was really only a large squirrel that had managed to drag a pack of cookies from a neglectant camper.

* * *

"I think it was Bigfoot," Naruto surmised.

"You don't honestly think Sasquatch really exists," Sasuke scoffed. "It's just a myth."

"Yeah right!" Naruto argued. "Then how do you explain the Lochness Monster?"

There was a tiny giggle near his ear and Sasuke adjusted his head to look at Sakura as she lay down on her bedding. He could see her looking at him with amusement as she stifled her laughter again as Naruto began to tell them of the time his cousin swore he saw a Yeti when he went skiing last winter. Naruto claimed it was true because he saw the footprints himself the next day when they went back to the place his cousin had spotted it.

"...and then remember that one time when I saw that chupacabra? Sasuke you remember...we were-"

"Naruto, that was a dog," Sasuke interrupted.

"That's not what you said when-"

Sakura burst into laughter causing Naruto to stop as both he and Sasuke looked at her. Having been too spooked from their flee from the squirrel, they stayed up all night talking and keeping each other safe. It was just reaching dawn and the tent was just light enough to see her laughing as she held her sides. As she settled down a happy silence fell around them as they each went into their own sleep deprived thinking.

"Hey guys?" Sakura said as she broke the silence, unsure if either of them was still awake or not. "I hope we remain friends. I heard a lot of childhood friends don't stay friends when they get into the upper schools."

It was quiet again for a long while until suddenly, "Don't worry Sakura, no matter what you will always have us...right Sasuke?"

"Hn."

Sakura could not help but let a bright smile come to her face. She loved her boys and all summer she had been worried that she was going to lose them soon. Middle school was a daunting idea. There would be more students in their grade, and they would be moving around to different classes with each period. What if they had a different lunch? What if they didn't share any classes or teachers? Sakura had other friends, but the thought of not having her best friends was terrifying. However, with Naruto's words and Sasuke's grunting, she felt that no matter how bad it all was, as long as she had them, it would all be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your lovely comments and support as always! Just a little team 7 bonding and set up for their next stage in life: THE AWKWARD STAGE. I was hoping to get more out this month but alas...the outdoors call to me during the summer and I am away from my computer more often that and work has been crazy. But I already started on the next chapter so we shall hopefully see a posting again soon! This chapter was slightly inspired by Giet's suggestion of wanting to see them take a trip together. Again probably not what you envisioned but I hope you liked it all the same!
> 
> As always please be kind to others, be kind to yourself, reach out to those in need or if you are in need, and continue to be excellent!
> 
> Up Next: The Bullies: Sakura has been having a hard time fitting in like her best friends, Sasuke is not happy, and Ino makes an appearance. (A little homage to the forest of death episode)


	8. The Bullies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N The group is now 13/14 years old. Also since they are getting older there will be some more teen aged rating content like swearing and stuff for anyone that may be bothered by that just a fair warning.

Sasuke walked through the empty hallways as he made his way to the cafeteria of the middle school. He had been asked to stay behind and go over an assignment with his teacher. After stopping by his locker, he left to meet up with his friends for lunch. As he neared the lunch room, he noticed the unusual volume and energy of the mass of students gathered in the eatery. It was always loud and rambunctious, but there was something different about the atmosphere when he entered the large dinning hall. The ambiance of the cafeteria was exhilarated, but held a certain tension that kept it from feeling like excitement and more like anxiety. 

Upon entering the eatery room, his dark eyes moved about the sea of tables and chairs, searching for his friends in their usual spot. However he detoured from his objective when he noticed a gathering of students that had formed in the middle of the room. Sasuke rarely took interest in the mundane frivolities of his peers, but there was something about the energy of the room that made him curious.

Drawn by the mystery of what was causing such energy, Sasuke moved towards the crowd. As students noticed his presence, their eyes widened and they quickly moved out of his way. A hum of whispers and gasp, along with a couple of giddy squeals of fangirls, followed his wake as he pushed through the group. 

So far middle school had been good to Sasuke. He had always been popular with his peers but there was something about puberty that had taken things to another level. In grade school there had always been a few girls that seemed to take an interest in him, Ino since the first day of school, Naruto’s cousin Karin when she came to visit during summer and winter breaks, but since coming into middle school, it was like a switch had been turned and it was like every girl had found him suddenly interesting. And while his body was still growing, his frame more lean than muscular, his physical abilities in after school sports and P.E. had earned him the respect of most of his fellow boys. That and his tendency to easily solve any differences with his fists. He was not a bully as he only fought with those who gave him or any of his friends issues, but more than once had he made a point that ended in a hot mess with school disciplinary last year. 

His best friend, Naruto, had adjusted to the transition well too. While not quite as popular with the girls, given his tendency to come off as loud and annoying, his jovial and comical persona earned him some popularity. That and his skill at practically any sport earned him favor amongst the crowd. He was friends with everyone, whether they chose to or not. And given the fact that he was Sasuke’s best friend, everyone was willing to overlook his flaws in hopes that they could somehow get closer to the Uchiha, the king of the seventh grade. 

Said king came to a stop when the crowd parted fully and he was able to finally see what exactly was causing such a commotion. As his dark eyes fell on the source of lunch room entertainment, the dining hall fell silent as a tight frown came to his lips. His dark eyes dimming with animosity as he took in the scene before him. 

While he and Naruto had flourished, middle school had not been quite so kind to Sakura. In the summer before they started middle school, Sakura had gotten braces and had also found out that she was in need of glasses. Which her mother, while meaning well but also in a hurry, had bought her the thickest and most unflattering rims that money could buy, thinking that they had been in style. Metal mouthed and four eyed, Sakura had come into sixth grade with all the accessories that most kids their age did not have, nor did they want to have. And while most of the seventh and eighth grade students had wires glued to their mouths, Sakura still stuck out amongst the still bare toothed sixth graders. And even now, even with many of their peers now donning the dental corrections, she had already earned the name of tin grin, magnet mouth, and zipper lips. It also didn’t help that she came from a lower, middle class family that went to school in a district that was dominantly upper class. Her unlabeled clothing and unknown name brand shoes made her look dull when compared to the high end fashion that was bought overseas and specially ordered and tailored to them. And her family’s failure to keep up with their other multi-million dollar family wealth was somehow a valid reason to dislike her. It was unfair and cruel, but prepubescent adolescents usually were. 

And as puberty kicked in, it only seemed to get worse. While most girls their age began to develop and gain a curvature to their bodies, transforming them from child to teenager. Sakura was not given such things. Her chest remained flat, her hips stayed narrow, and the only thing that the teenage hormones seemed to be doing was give her an outbreak of acne. And that was just the physical strikes against her. 

There was something about being friends with the two most popular guys that made girls hate her. And not the kind of hatred where they ignored or shunned her from their groups, that would have been the kind thing to do. But no, she drew their attention and wrath. They made her life miserable. And the unfortunate reality was that it then drew the attention of boys as well, hoping that by preying upon her, they would earn the attention of the girls that seemed to despise her. Making her a victim to practically everyone. 

Sixth grade had been the worst as they had no classes together and both he and Naruto had been ignorant of the bullying as Sakura had hid it well from them. However by chance at the end of last year's school year, Sasuke had caught someone in the act and it had not gone well. Sasuke had gotten himself suspended for three days but it had all been worth it. Since then, Naruto and himself had worked hard to make it known that Sakura was off limits to everyone. Using their popularity and when necessary, their fists, they spread an umbrella of protection over her for the rest of the school year that had continued into the next. This year it had gone well with no incidents, especially since they shared classes with her and were around more often. But it seemed Sasuke had been mistaken and grown too relaxed as he looked at the girl under his said protection. It seemed in his absence, people got bold. 

Sakura stood in the middle of the circle, her eyes cast down to the ground where her tray of food had clattered onto the ground making a mess of cafeteria cuisine on the tile and her white sneakers. But that was not even the worst of it. Piled on top of her hair and spilling down her right shoulder and back was a plateful of spaghetti. Noodles hung from her hair and red sauce dripped down the front of her uniforms blazer and onto the white shirt beneath. 

Sasuke looked at her with sharp eyes and a clenched jaw. Even though her head was hung low and her hair covered most of her face, Sasuke could tell she was crying. He could see the small tears drop from her face every once in a while and the faintest of sniffs could be heard now that the cafeteria was quiet. He was frozen, unsure of what to do. Did he go up to her and comfort her? Did he drag her away from the nosy crowd around them? Or did he give into the bubbling rage beneath the surface of his calm composure and start yelling at anyone and everyone? 

After a long, drawn out silence, Sasuke managed to take his first action. Walking into the center of the circle formed by students, Sasuke sent a dark look around at his peers before putting a hand on her shoulder. Tearing his eyes away from the onlookers, he focused solely on Sakura. 

“Sakura,” he said in a sharp tone, his anger accidentally coming out with her name and causing her to slightly flinch and for him to frown more. 

She did not even acknowledge him. Instead her head stayed hung and Sasuke noticed that a large chunk of her long hair was matted and sticky with what looked like gum. His grip on her shoulder tightened. 

“Who did that to you?” he demanded. 

She stayed silent. 

“Sakura,” he said more sharply, causing her to shake her head quickly. 

Sasuke let out a growl of frustration, his hand moving from her shoulder to run through his hair as he spun around to the growing crowd, his presence drawing an audience eager to see his reaction. His eyes moved about the circular wall of bodies, silently demanding someone to come forward.

“Who did this?” he addressed the crowd. 

The once eager and entertainment starved student body seemed to suddenly become disinterested as his eyes fell upon them. Individuals shrank away to the outer layers of the gathering while others averted their eyes. Some exchanged looks around the room but none defining enough for him to decipher if they were guilty or giving away the perpetrators. He was just about to give up and go back to interrogating Sakura when he heard it.

A small giggle to his right which had him whipping his head faster than the guilty person could suppress their glee. His eyes locked onto a dark haired girl who was laughing behind her hand and something within him snapped. It was like a darkness seemed to spread over his body, burning across his skin and emanating a sinister aura. The girl’s mirth quickly dissipated as his attention was brought to her and the two boys standing behind her. 

Kin Tsuchi, Zaku Abumi, and Dosu Kinuta...he should have known. 

They were all a year older, but they were in the same grade as the trio had been held back the previous year. Given their age advantage, the three of them liked to think that they had seniority over their peers, but Sasuke failed to see what gave them any right to any kind of respect. They skipped most of their classes and cheated through the ones they attended. While he himself was not a model student, not for a lack of brains but more so of lack of effort, these three made him look like the runner up for valedictorian. 

Dosu sold cigarettes that he had stolen to anyone who would buy them and to some more adventurous kids, who were already dabbling in other gateways of drugs, he sold his grandmother's medications. He was always in and out of detention but hardly ever got more than that, given his dad's profession. His dad was the lead singer of some overseas metal band which was the reason why he lived with his grandmother, as his mom traveled around with the band as their manager. If he were not such a dick some would probably feel bad for him given the only attention he received from his parents was when he got into trouble. And even then it was just a brief meeting with the school disciplinary board. Usually a length of time just long enough for them to write out a school donation check that would ensure their child was not suspended. As a result of this parenting, Dosu went about doing whatever he wanted as if there were no consequences, because in reality, there really were none for him. 

If Dosu was a prick, then when lined up next to him, Zaku was an arrogant asshole. He talked big but when it came to backing up his words, it was with a gang standing behind him. He said whatever he wanted, to whomever he wanted, without any regard to the repercussions. And unlike Dosu, he actually had the looks that gave him an advantage in people labeling him as the desired bad boy, instead of just the jackass he really was. 

And finally there was Kin. Like Zaku, she got away with mistreatment of others because of her looks. Her long dark hair and matching large eyes were striking and she knew it. But as pretty as she was on the outside, she was oppositely nasty on the inside. Name calling and shaming was not beneath her and despite her failing of classes, she was highly intelligent in the art of finding a person's vulnerability and exploiting it. She was overconfident but with Dosu and Zaku always at her side, no one ever called her out. It was rumored that both of them were her boyfriends while others said that she dated neither of them. The most accepted rumor was that Dosu and Zaku both liked her, and she strung them along for the benefits that came with having a friend with a famous dad and another with just extremely wealthy parents. 

However, despite the arrogance, the overconfidence, and their delusions of being untouchable, the moment Sasuke’s dark gaze fell on them, there was a visible unease in their faces. They may have been children of famous rock stars, lawyers, socialites, and CEOs of multimedia businesses, but Sasuke was an Uchiha. He was not just high class, he was an elite. And unlike them, Sasuke did not need to lean on his reputation to make people fear him, he did that all on his own. 

“You three,” he said darkly. “Did you do this?” he inquired, pointing to Sakura. 

Both Dosu and Kin fidgeted, but Zaku took a brave step forward. It was an impressive move as his seniority gave him significant height over Sasuke. He squared his shoulders and looked down at Sasuke. 

“And what if we did?” he challenged. “I’m not going to let some short kid tell me what I can and cannot do. Trust me Uchiha, just turn around and walk away. This is not your concern,” he said while flashing him his more muscular biceps. 

“Isn’t it?” Sasuke said cooly, right before his fist struck out and hit Zaku straight in the face. 

Sasuke may have been leaner, but having been enrolled in various martial arts classes all growing up and having been involved in plenty of fist fights, Sasuke knew how to hit fast and to do it hard. The force of his punch caused Zaku to fall back onto the ground and slide against the polished floor of the cafeteria. He came to a stop right at Dosu’s feet, who, in his astonishment from Sasuke’s fast movement, had him take a step back when Sasuke moved forward. 

Zaku let out a grunt as he sat up, holding his nose as a trickle of blood ran down his face. Wiping at the blood, he smeared it across his face as he stood up. 

“I’m gonna beat your ass Uchiha!” he barked. “And after I beat your ass my parents are going to sue your ass!”

Taking a few steps forward to meet Sasuke, he drew his hand back and swung. But Sasuke was too fast. He dodged the swing with a sidestep while simultaneously grabbing Zaku’s hand and twisting. Sasuke maneuvered himself behind Zaku as he kicked out at his leg, forcing Zaku to one knee. As soon as the taller boy hit the ground, Sasuke braced his leg against Zaku’s spine and pressed as he pulled his arm back. 

“You seem to be proud of those muscles,” Sasuke said darkly through his blinding rage. 

Zaku let out a groan. “Stop it!” he managed to cry out. 

Sasuke ignored his plea and pulled his arm more. Even as Dasu and Kin started to petition for their friend, warning Sasuke he was going to dislocate his arm or pull a muscle in Zaku’s shoulder, Sasuke did not let up. All of it fell on deaf ears. Sasuke wanted that, he wanted Zaku to suffer those things and when he was done...he would get the other two. 

“Stop!”

He wasn’t sure if it was the sound of her giving the command instead of others or her physically wrapping her arms around him so he was forced to ease up. But one thing was certain, he had stopped because it was her, and not anyone else. Anyone else would have been pushed away or received their own dosage of his rage as well. But the moment he felt her thin arms wrap around him and her scared voice sounded in his ears, he pulled his attention away from the cowering Zaku at his feet, and twisted his head to look down at her. 

As soon as onyx met jade, Sasuke’s body relaxed. His tense shoulders loosened and his fists unclenched. And then he just stared down at her. The tear tracks from earlier had dried and wiped away but there was now a new wave of tears building up in her eyes. But unlike her earlier upset tears, these were ones of worry and fear for him, not herself. 

“Please, Sasuke,” she begged. “No more fighting. Just let them go.”

There was a long pause as Sasuke seemed to be battling a turmoil within him. But finally, after an internal debate, Sasuke let go of Zaku’s arm as he shoved him forward with his foot, not once taking his eyes away from Sakura. Zaku fell to the ground and Dosu was there with Kin to quickly help him to his feet. All three of them glared in Sasuke’s direction as they looked at him. Kin latched onto Zaku with support as the tall boy grabbed his arm. Dosu stood in front of their little pack of wolves as he pointed to Sasuke. 

“Sasuke,” came Dosu’s voice, causing Sasuke to move his attention to the boy addressing him. “You better watch your back from now on, cause you're dead!”

When he had been looking at Sakura his glare had softened in the smallest of tenderness, but the moment he looked at the three bullies, they hardened. “Why wait?” Sasuke questioned, moving to go forward but Sakura’s arms tightened around him. 

“Sasuke, no,” she protested. 

He looked down at her pleading eyes. “They deserve it, Sakura, they need to learn a lesson.” 

She shook her head vigorously as her watering eyes built up enough to start flowing from her eyes. “I don’t want you to get into trouble. Not for me, not again.” 

He didn’t like it when she cried. He never knew what to do when she cried. When she cried, he would feel so powerless, and Sasuke hated feeling powerless. Not only that but it meant Sakura was hurting and for as long as he could remember, he had always made it his mission to make sure she was safe. It was just unfortunate that as much as he protected her from physical hurt, he had no power when it came to getting emotionally hurt. How could he protect her from what he himself struggled to understand?

“Sakuraー”

“Sasuke please, just let them go. I don’t want you to get suspended again.”

Unlike a lot of the more wealthy students, Sasuke’s parents did not bail their children out from the consequences of their actions. Therefore, Sasuke had been suspended numerous times over the past year, all of them for fighting. His parents had not been pleased in the least but Sasuke had started to not bother caring about that, given the fact that he could be the perfect student and his father would never acknowledge him the way he did Itachi. However, his mother, he did care to not disappoint. That, and the last time he was suspended, his father had threatened to send him to a boarding school if he didn’t start cleaning up his act. It was that reason right there, that he gave in. Because if he was gone...who would protect Sakura? 

However it was not easy to walk away but her arms wrapped around his torso seemed to calm down the monstrous rage that had taken over him. Or he was at least calm enough to now be more aware of the predicament. He became more conscious of the staring eyes, the recording cell phones, and of course of Sakura who was disheveled and still covered in spaghetti. He needed to get her out of there, get her out of the spotlight, and get her cleansed of the humiliation she had been put through. 

Grabbing her wrists, he pried her arms from around his body. Keeping hold of her right arm, he gave a final dark look to the trio that then swept his gaze over the congregation before he began to drag Sakura away to the exit. The students parted without needing telling as he stiffly walked away, a sniffling and shaking Sakura in tow. He exited the dining hall into the front entry of the school then took a sharp turn to go down the left wing and through several other various corridors and up a couple of stairways until he found himself in front of his locker. 

Still keeping a hold of her, he one handedly spun the combo of the lock and unhooked the padlock before opening the door. After managing to unzip the duffel bag that had been stuffed in, he pulled out a sweatshirt before slamming the door shut. In the last moment before walking away, he gave the lock a spin before wordlessly dragging Sakura further down the hall.

To her credit and his relief, Sakura did not question or resist being dragged out of the cafeteria nor give any question or fuss when he led her throughout the school. Be it trust or just used to being dragged around like this for as long as they had known each other, Sakura let him lead the way. That is until he opened the door to the boys bathroom and started walking in. Only then did she dig her heels in. 

“I can’t go in there!” she panicked when he looked back at her with a hard expression that told her to obey. 

“Sakura, it's a bathroom, not the locker room,” he argued. “Besides, everyone is at lunch or in class.” 

“But what if someone comes in when I'm in there?”

“Then I will tell them to fuck off.” 

Sakura frowned at his language. It wasn’t necessarily the word itself that she disapproved of, but what him using it meant. It wasn’t like curse words were no longer no-no words like when they were kids. They felt foreign on her own tongue when she tried to use them and she still wasn’t used to hearing them come out of her childhood friends' mouths either. It was not like Sasuke swore all the time, in fact it was only when he was really angry or annoyed did he use them. Not that was really saying much, given Sasuke’s mood homeostasis was usually ranged between irked and irritated. And she didn’t like it when he was that way. It made her feel burdensome because she was usually the root of the cause. 

“Okay,” she gave in. “But can you go in first and just make sure no one is already in there?” 

* * *

He pulled off a spaghetti noodle that had been sticking to her neck as his other hand grabbed for more papers towels. Running the towles under the sink water, he brought it up to her hair and started dabbing at the hardening sauce. As he worked, Sakura silently watched as she sat on the counter. His face was stoney and pinched and he hadn’t said a single word since they entered. 

“I thought you said it stopped?” Sasuke suddenly snapped, his voice coming out harsh in his anger. An anger that was not necessarily unpointed at her, as there was a small part that was furious at her for stopping him. 

“I didn’t want to bother you about it,” she said quietly. “And besides, it was just a misunderstanding, it’s not a big deal.”

Sasuke turned away from her to throw the paper towels away in the trash can. When he turned back around, he was crossing his arms and glaring at her. 

“Not a big deal?” he asked, raising a brow. “Then let me ask you this, had I not walked in the cafeteria when I did, would you have told me?”

She looked down at her lap. When she looked up, he was still looking at her with a hard expression causing her to look back down. 

“I’m gonna beat their asses,” he muttered. 

Her head whipped up at that. “Please don’t,” she pleaded. “It’s just going to make things worse and I don’t want you to get into trouble again.” Sasuke let out a scoff and she grabbed onto his hand. “Sasuke, please. Promise me you will not do anything to them. I can handle it myself. I will go to the principal, I will tell the teacher. Just let me handle this on my own.” 

“Like you said you were handling it last year?” he challenged. Her mouth opened and closed for a moment before gluing shut, unable to come up with a rebuttal. “See! You say you are going to handle things but you don’t! You just let people walk over you and then you make yourself seem even weaker!”

Her face scrunched at his words. “I’m not weak,” she defended, sounding both hurt and angry. 

Sasuke let out a sigh. “I know you aren't. I’ve seen you give out beatings to Naruto and received them myself. But you're too nice and easy about this. You have to stand up to people other than those you are already comfortable with.” 

Sakura opened her mouth to argue again, to defend and tell things from her point but the moment she looked at him, she knew she might as well save her breath. While she would never give Sasuke up in any way, shape, or form, being the subject of having his best interest at heart was sometimes suffocating. And he was so stubborn and prejudiced against other people's opinions of what was best, even for themselves, one could never make him understand. 

She let out a long sigh as she sagged on the bathroom counter. “Can we please just talk about this later?” she asked with a tired tone. It had been a long day and she was not in a mood to get lectured. 

It was obvious that Sasuke did not want to wait until later to handle this but it seemed he was going to take pity on her and show some mercy. “Fine,” he gave in, before giving her a firm look, “but we are going to talk about this later.”

She nodded and he handed his sweatshirt to her. “I can’t wear that,” she pointed out. “It’s not a school approved uniform. A teacher is going to write me up for it.” 

Sasuke rolled his eyes and grabbed her arm. “Yeah, well, while they write you up, maybe that’s when you can talk to them about why your uniform is also covered in marinara sauce because last time I checked, that wasn’t on the list of school approved apparel as well,” he argued sarcastically, pulling her arms through the sweater as if she was a child incapable of dressing themselves. 

He finished by zipping up the front, pausing as his gaze moved up to her frown from being wrestled into the oversized sweatshirt. Lifting his hand, with his middle and pointer finger, he jabbed the creased lines of her forehead. 

“Stop that,” he chastised. “You’ll get wrinkles.” 

Sakura moved to swat his hand away but he was too fast, stepping away with a smirk that made her stomach flip. She quickly hid her face as she made a show of readjusting the sweatshirt. 

“You’re one to talk,” she muttered lowly as she slid off the counter. 

“Hn,” she heard him hum with an amused tone. “Come on let’s get out of here before someone comes in, this is a boys bathroom after all.” 

He grinned as she sent him a look that was supposed to be intimidating but he could not help but only find as threatening as a fluffy kitten. Opening the door, he came to an abrupt stop when he came face to face with a blonde haired and blue eyed girl and his amusement diminished. Sasuke glowered the moment he saw Ino Yaminaka obviously waiting for them outside the bathroom. 

“What do you want?” he snapped, unconsciously pulling Sakura closer behind him as if to shield her. 

“Uh..I ah…” She held up a pair of broken glasses. “I found these on the ground and um…” 

She held the glasses out towards Sakura as she came out from behind Sasuke. Talking them in her hands, the pinkette let out a small sound of dismay as she inspected the cracked lens and missing ear piece. 

“Thanks,” she said quietly, giving the faintest of smiles to Ino. 

It had been a long time since she had really even spoken to the blonde. Back in elementary school they had somewhat become friends. But they had a falling out in fifth grade for, what at the time, seemed like valid and important reasons. And while Ino had never been one of those who had made her life hell since middle school started, she had just been a bystander in most witnessed occurrences. She had never done anything to Sakura, but she had also never done anything to stop something from happening, like many of their peers failed to do. Which in truth, did not make them as innocent as they thought themselves.

For a moment they all just stood there. Sasuke glaring, Sakura fidgeting, and Ino looking uncomfortable in front of the two. In an effort to handle the awkward silence between them, Sakura preoccupied herself with tucking her glasses into the pocket of Sasuke’s sweater.

“You know...I have an extra blazer and shirt in my locker...you could borrow them for the rest of the day if you would like.” 

Sakura looked up at her looking slightly wary. Next to her, Sasuke scowled in full distrust. Ino, noticing both of their expressions slightly fidgeted before suddenly posing confidently and pushing her long ponytail behind her shoulder. 

“Look,” she began, her face looking slightly somber, “I know we haven’t exactly been the best of friendsー”

“You mean friends at all,” Sasuke interrupted. 

Ino’s blue eyes flickered to Sasuke. “R-right,” she stuttered before looking back to Sakura as she reached up to her hair and played with the end of her ponytail. “But anyways...what they did back there was not right. I saw you get picked on all last year and even though I knew it was wrong I never stood up or said anything to stop anyone. I don’t think anyone ever did. Yet despite that, today, when you stood up for that new girl that Kin was bullying. Well...that was...that was really cool of you,” she finished looking up from her long hair to meet Sakura’s green gaze. 

Upon hearing that last part, Sasuke looked at Sakura just in time to see a spark of something in her eyes. If he was not mistaken, it was what he would label as pride. He looked to Ino, his arms crossed over his chest but more in a pensive stance than intimidation. 

“What are you talking about?” he asked curiously. 

Ino’s blue eyes moved to him, a small blush coming to her cheeks as he addressed her directly and without any spite in his voice. “Oh, um...I guess you missed that part,” she explained. “Before...well before the whole spaghetti thing, Kin had been picking on the new girl...what’s her name again?”

“Hinata,” Sakura provided when Ino looked at her for help. 

“Yeah that's right, Neji’s little...sister?”

“Cousin,” Sakura corrected. 

“Right,” she said brightly with a snap of her fingers. “Anyways, you know what Kin is like, totally obsessed with Neji. Well apparently Neji is like, super protective of Hinata and so he has been practically non stop hovering over her and Kin mistook them as more than cousins...”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. This, this was exactly why elementary school had been hell for him. Because every single year, with every single stupid assigned seating chart, this girl was either at the same table or seated at least within a few feet of him. Where he would constantly hear her jabbering away with gossip and never getting to the point. 

“...I mean the girl styles her hair exactly the same way as him. Talk about stalker-” 

“Can we skip the gossip and just get to the point,” Sasuke dead panned. 

“Oh um...sorry,” she let out a nervous laugh as she blushed again. “Anyways, Kin was picking on Hinata and Sakura stepped in and told her to leave her alone. That was when Kin stuck her gum in Sakura’s hair and Sakura threw her into the garbage.”

Sasuke looked quickly at Sakura. “You fought her?” he said with alarm. Not that he was disapproving of Sakura fighting back, in fact he was proud of her. However...what if she got in trouble. Unlike most of the students who had parents that annually donated to the school, Sakura’s parents did not, they didn’t have the funds. If she got into trouble, Sakura could lose her scholarship to the school and the school board would not even bat an eye to the loss since she was what they labeled ‘charity’ not an ‘asset’. 

“I didn’t mean to push her so hard. It was just a reflex,” she said with defense as she wrung her hands anxiously. “I was just trying to get some distance between us. The whole garbage thing was an accident.”

Ino snorted with amusement. “Don’t make it sound like it was a bad thing,” Ino chimed in. “She deserved to fall into that garbage can. Anyways,” Ino continued, getting back to the story, “that was when Dosu and Zaku came up and they all started gaining up on Sakura.” She paused for a moment then a thought seemed to come to her mind. “By the way...were you able to get the gum out of your hair?”

A grim look came to Sakura’s face as she looked to Sasuke then back to Ino. “We tried to get it out but…” A hand went up to her pink locks and lifted a chunk that was significantly shorter than the rest. “We um...just had to cut it.”

Ino frowned but then took a confident step forward as she pushed Sasuke to the side and examined Sakura’s hair. “You know, I watch a beauty channel that does a lot of DIY hair videos...if you will let me, I could totally give you a haircut.” She started grabbing sections of Sakura’s hair as she pulled it up to see what it would look like short, testing out different lengths and styles. “You would totally be able to pull off a bob!” She said brightly. “You have the perfect facial features for it!”

Sakura glanced at Sasuke then to Ino. She wasn’t exactly sure why Ino was suddenly being nice to her. But if there was one thing Ino was...she was genuine. Unlike a lot of the more popular girls in the school, Ino was not one to pretend to be your friend with nefarious intentions. If she didn’t like you, she made it known. She was not one to play pretend nice with ulterior motives.

“Do you think so?” Sakura replied, unsure as she had never had short hair before. 

Ino stood in front of her. “Yes!” she said confidently, before beginning to bounce up and down. “Oh please, oh please! It would look so cute!”

Sakura could not help but smile at Ino’s energy. She had forgotten just how contagious the blondes confidence and energy was. 

“Well I guess it would be better than the half mullet I am currently rocking,” Sakura admitted. 

Ino smiled then cuddled up next to her as she looped her arm with hers. “Totally,” Ino agreed before looking at Sasuke who looked wary in letting her just walk away with his pinkette. “Don’t worry, I will take care care of her.” 

Sasuke did not say or do anything until Sakura gave him an assuring nod. Then, and only then, did he send the pair off. But not before giving a warning look to Ino that she better hold up to that promise of protection. And before Sakura let herself go with her, he was forced into giving his own promise that he wouldn’t do anything that would get himself into trouble. 

* * *

Sasuke watched the pair of girls walk away, a small feeling of relief coming to him as he heard Sakura laughing as she walked arm in arm with the blonde. But the happy feeling did not linger long. Soon he found his mood darkening as the memory of her earlier, broken state came back into his mind. Then frustration joined the anger to form rage as he thought about the group who had committed the crime. In the blindness of his rage, he almost found himself hunting them down, and beating them enough to cement the knowledge into their heads that, in the future, if they so much as even think poorly of Sakura, they would pay for it. The only thing holding him back was his promise. 

He could never lie to Sakura. Withhold from to protect her, yes, but never blatantly lie. It just was not something he could do or risk. Breaking promises, in his book, was lying. 

But something had to be done. Which was why he found himself reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. Turning around to walk the opposite way down the hall, he began to scroll through his contacts as he found himself a secluded stairwell of the school. Finding the name he was seeking, he moved to tap the call icon on the screen, his thumb hovering over the name for only a moment before firmly taping and raising the phone to his ear. He glared out of the window in the empty stairwell, his eyes catching his reflected dark expression as he listened to the number connect and begin to ring. 

It rang twice before the deep voice of the person on the other line answered, “Well isn’t this a surprise!”

“I need a favor,” Sasuke said, cutting straight to the chase. 

“Doesn't everyone,” came the reply of Madara Uchiha. 

Sasuke gritted his teeth in irritation as he glared at himself in the reflection of the window pane. “Look, I can always call someone else. You weren't exactly my first choice.”

“Yet you still called me first, didn’t you.”

“...”

There was a dark laugh on the other line. “Oh Sasuke, you truly are beginning to become my favorite.” 

Sasuke frowned at that. “Does that mean you’re going to help?”

“It depends on what you would have me do?” he replied casually, Sasuke imagined him sitting back and looking smug in his office chair. “I only have so many strings to pull. Despite what some say, I am merely a man, not a god.” 

“Can you get some students at my school transferred?”

“Now Sasuke, just because you can’t get along with a fewー”

“It’s not me, it’s Sakura. She’s getting bullied and if I get into another-.”

“Consider it done.” Madara responded instantly, his voice having grown chilled. “You just give me the names and I will take care of the rest.” 

.

.

.

Sasuke hung up his phone just as the bell rang. As always, the once vacant and silent hallway was being flooded with students and chatter. He walked down, the sea of students parting like the red sea for him as his dark mood emitted an aura that acted as a physical barrier. He sent a single text with a short list of names and by the time he was sitting down in his history class, the intercom came on. The voice of their principal sounded through the entire school, his voice sounding recently shooken up as he listed off three students that were to report to the office immediately. 

Sasuke caught Sakura, with her complete new look of hair, glance suspiciously in his direction, but he kept his face empty. There was nothing to be suspicious of, he had done nothing...it was his uncle that was doing the dirty work. He had promised Sakura he himself would not personally do anything. If someone else were to have their own reason to want the removal of three students that had been causing trouble for a certain favored pinkette, well...wasn’t that just convenient. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for supporting and sharing your kind words and feedback for this story. Its been really cool to hear how much this story brightens your days when I get around to posting something. 
> 
> As always! Take care and be your excellent selves that you all are in your own ways. 
> 
> Next Up: The Festival: Still working out the full details but... Under the care of Ino, Sakura has begun to bud. As the saying goes, better late than never. Team seven and friends go to a festival where Sasuke is finding it difficult to ignore the changes they are all going through. What are some of your favorite festival/carnival features and traditions?


	9. The Festival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N So this turned into a more school festival theme. There were so many good ideas and different things I could feature but of course could not due to length. However some of your suggestions inspired me for later chapters such as going to a temple, praying, and getting their fortunes read by a shaman that I think I am going to make their own chapter when they are older in high school, then maybe a more celebratory festival when they are older after school. I think Hanami and one in Nara was suggested so I will have to look into those. So if you didn't see your favorites in this chapter it because I decided to save it for later. Also most of my knowledge comes from google and drama/anime shows so if there is something wrong please forgive my ignorance.

Sasuke fidgeted with his yukata as he stepped out of the SUV and glared at the school building. It was bad enough that he had to come here every weekday, but to force him to come on a Saturday? It was criminal.

"Oh my goodness, it already sounds, smells, and looks wonderful from all the way over here," Mikoto exclaimed, as she came up next to him and looked out towards the activity fields across from the parking lot. "The committee sure did a wonderful job this year."

"Auntie, aren't you the president of the committee?" Shisui asked as he came around the other side of the SUV with Itachi.

Mikoto gave a not so humble smile. "Am I? Well, no wonder it looks perfect," she appraised as she looked back to the festivities.

Next to his mother Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked out to the reason why he was here, and not at home playing video games. Towards the end of every school year, the school put on a festival to raise funds for the next year, _as if a private school like this was ever low on money_. He was pretty sure the festival cost more than it even made because when Konoha Middle Academy put on a festival, they spared no expense.

The field was lit up brighter than a stadium during the biggest event of the year. Music could be heard echoing out from the main attractions that Sasuke could already spot from afar. Several carnival rides had been set up in the middle of it all, and the tall Ferris wheel in the center was already operating as it spun riders around in its carriages. And already his mouth was watering from the aromas of the food vendors wafted over to him.

"Holy fu–"

"Shisui!" Barked Mikoto.

"–fu-udge," Shisui finished, giving his aunt a sweet look which she saw right through. He wrapped an arm around Sasuke's neck and ruffled his hair. "I'm telling you little Saucy, this school is way better than when I went here!"

Sasuke shoved him off and glared at him. Shisui went unphased by the murderous expression being directed at him as Sasuke unsuccessfully tried to tame his hair. Instead, Shisui gazed out at the festival and pointed eagerly to the Ferris wheel.

"Oh look! Make sure you ride that with someone you like."

Sasuke gave him a confused expression. "Why?"

"Because you have to kiss whoever is with you if you get stopped at the top! Otherwise it's bad luck. Wouldn't want to get stuck on the top with Naruto...then again, I heard what happened in your second year, so maybe you do want to ride with him if you liked itー"

Sasuke slapped a hand over Shusui's mouth as he looked around quickly. Shisui stuck his tongue out and Sasuke wrenched his hand away in disgust as he quickly wiped Shisui's saliva off.

"How do you even know about that!" Sasuke hissed in a panic, causing Shisui to grin. "Don't ever tell anyone or bring that disgusting event up again! Do you have any idea how traumatizing that was! I tasted stale ramen for weeks after that." He shivered at the memory.

"Okay then, that's a no to Naruto on the Ferris wheel." A wicked grin stretched onto Shisui's devilish face. "I guess you can always take your girlfriend on the tunnel of loooove," Shisui sing-songed.

"Sakura's not my girlfriend," Sasuke quickly defended.

"Not yet," Shisui winked. "Oh and by the way-" he began as he started to walk away backwards- "I don't recall saying anything about Sakura? But hey-" he threw a pair of thumbs up- "I ship it."

"Shut up Shisui," Sasuke snapped. "What are you even doing here? This festival is for students and their families. You're like some pervert coming to prey on underage girls."

Shisui let out an offended sound. "Since when was a cousin not family?!" he challenged before gesturing to the sign. "And besides, the sign says welcome friends and family of Konoha Middle Academy." He pointed to Sasuke. "You may have disowned me but I went to this school and I fancy myself a very good friend." He let out a proud sniff. "I have many fond memories of this place. I made out for the first time in that abandoned music room in the east wing." His eyes brightened as if hit with an idea, and bent down close to Sasuke's face as he whispered conspiratorially, "Tell me, is that where you and Sakura go to–"

Shisui was cut short as Sasuke's hand went to his face and shoved him away. Adjusting his yukata again, Sasuke stomped off ahead of the group. Behind him, Shisui was laughing like a hyena, Itachi was stoically hiding his amusement, and Mikoto jabbered away about the decorations as they crossed through the gates, into the designated festival grounds.

* * *

Sasuke, and every other one of his schoolmates, were dressed in the attire of the traditional festivals. This made it easy to pick out who the students were in the crowded masses. Here and there one could spot some faculty members, parents, or older siblings wearing the traditional attire as well to embrace the theme of this year's school festival of 'insert theme'. The rest of the masses wore their normal modern clothing. However in a way it all blended in with the rest of the modern and traditional aesthetics. The LED lights of the carnival rides flashed with a rainbow of colors along with the golden glow of the paper lamps that lit up the vendor stalls and walkways. Traditional foods like yakitori and dango filled the air with their sweet and savory aromas as they mixed with the more modern offerings of treats such as cotton candy and funnel cakes. Even the game stalls were a balance of traditional and modern, ranging from goldfish scooping to gun-shooting ranges, ring toss to senbonbiki lotteries. All of it was enough to keep anyone distracted and entertained, but Sasuke only had one goal in mind.

"Have you seen Sakura around yet?" Sasuke asked Naruto casually.

As soon as he had come through the main entrance, the blonde had come out from nowhere wearing the traditional black yukata and donning a brightly colored obi tied around his waist. It had already come loose due to the blondes wild movements but he seemed to be either ignorant or unphased by the lack of dignity one gained while wearing the traditional attire.

"I saw her earlier when I first got here, she was doing her shift at our class booth with Neji's cousin, you know that quiet girl that always faints," he rambled off as his eyes stayed glued to a ramen stand that was advertising to buy three bowls and get one free.

"We should find her before going to meet up with the rest of theー

"Sasuke! Naruto!"

Both boys turned at the sound of their names to find Sakura approaching them. Naruto waved wildly back while Sasuke quietly took her in with an odd expression on his face. His head tilted slightly as he examined her, confused. She looked weird. Not in a bad kind of weird, but just...different. He was seeing the same smile, the same bright green eyes, and warm aura that Sakura always had. But there was just something not quite the same.

Her short hair, which had grown a little longer over the past school year was pulled up into a delicate side bun and adorned with a cherry blossom branch ornament. From it, hung a few tear drop rubies by the side of her neck that let out a small tinkling sound as she ran carefully up to them. Like the rest of the students, she was wearing a traditional kimono made of a ruby fabric that had a pattern of her namesake blossom woven into the silk. Around her waist was a tightly, and perfectly knotted obi that was a dark shade of forest green to match her striking eyes. It was then, as she came closer, Sasuke realized just why exactly she looked odd

She was wearing makeup and he could hardly wrap his intelligent mind around such a conclusion, because Sakura didn't wear makeup. No doubt it was Ino's work and influence as Sakura's blonde friend wore makeup like it was Halloween. But Sakura had never seemed interested in such things before. Yet...here she was. Smiling at him with her lips painted a cherry red that made them look fuller as her cheeks glowed with a healthy flush. But it was her eyes that caught his attention the most. They had been lined with a dark and perfectly drawn eyeliner as a dusting of red and gold eye shadow made her eyes stand out even more colorfully and Sasuke found himself unable to look away from them.

After Sakura's glasses had been broken, she had opted for a pair of contacts as she had always been bothered with her glasses always falling down and getting dirty. In the barely over a year's time she had worn them, Sasuke had slightly forgotten just how vivid her eyes really were. He had always found there was a strange power in her eyes that made him want to do anything and everything for her. Now, that power was tripled and he found himself swallowing dryly as she looked back at him.

As soon as she got to them, Naruto wrapped her in a hug before becoming distracted by the ramen stand again. When he released her, Sakura came up to Sasuke and wrapped her arms around him, causing Sasuke to stiffen. Hugs from Sakura were not anything out of the norm. However, like everything about her tonight, there was something odd about the feeling of her arms wrapped around him and her body pressing against his.

He had recently grown another inch, forcing Sakura to stand on her tippy toes in order to wrap her arms around his neck. This resulted in her needing to lean against him more than what he was used to and their chests pressed up against each other as she gave him a tight squeeze. At first he wrapped his arms around her in return as he always did in an act of 'toleration', but he soon stiffened when he felt a slight softness and curvature that he was not used to feeling. And it was not just his mind that seemed to acknowledge this softness pressing up against him, but also his body. His teenage, hormone raging, puberty altered, body.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he felt his body begin to react and he quickly shoved her away as subtly as he could before she too could feel his own body growing in certain places. She had a slightly confused look but Sasuke looked away from her as he bowed his head and let his long bangs hide his face as it turned the color of his favorite food. He stared at the ground, listing off the different high stances he had mastered in karate. Hoping and praying to the gods that his stupid body would calm down. Thankfully, before anyone else could notice his struggle with puberty, his mother chose the perfect opportunity to notice Sakura had joined their group.

"Sakura!" she exclaimed. "You look beautiful."

Sakura could not help but shyly duck her head in a polite acknowledgement and gratitude of the woman's praise. Tucking her hands behind her back she rocked on the balls of her feet as Mikoto listed things she looked like, ranging from country fairy to empress, then escalating to a spring goddess. With each proclaimed compliment Sakura grew more and more bashful, still not used to Mikoto's generous praise even after nearly ten years of receiving them.

Mikoto let out another squeal. "Oh my goodness we have got to get a picture of everyone! Gods I knew this year's theme was going to be perfect. You three are just darling," she said as she grabbed Sasuke and Naruto and sandwiched Sakura between the two. "Itachi, Shusui, get behind them!"

She opened her purse and dug around for a moment before pulling out her phone and turning on the camera. Holding it up, she focused the screen as they all lined up as instructed. Shisui placed himself right behind Sakura and Sasuke as he wrapped his arms around their shoulders and stuck his head between them. Subtly he turned his head and whispered something into his younger cousin's ear before turning to Sakura and complimenting her outfit, abandoning Sasuke to burn heatedly with embarrassment and rage.

"Sasuke, look at the camera," Mikoto instructed. "And smile. Finals are not until next week, you look like you are in the middle of your college placement exams. Alright everyone one, two, three..."

The phone let out a digitalized snap as she caught the moment.

Sasuke's dark eyes glared up at the camera as he folded his arms. Behind him Shisui was throwing up a pair of bunny ears as he threw a casual arm over Sakura's shoulder and threw up a peace sign with his other hand. Sakura, stood in the center with a wide smile that showed off her metallic braces without any care. Next to her Naruto had caught a whiff of the Ramen stand and was not even looking at the camera. And finally, behind the distracted drooling blonde, Itachi stood with his hands in his pockets, bending slightly so his tall frame could fit in with the group.

Mikoto was not satisfied with just the one and after a lot of rearranging, posing, and complaining, she finally released them to go do as they wished. Thirty minutes later, the trio of young teens were making their way through the walkways to meet with their friends.

* * *

From the first day of school, back when he was only five years old, Sasuke had never been a big fan of Ino. However, recently his dislike for the girl had lessened to being tolerant of her as he was forced to adapt to the changes that had taken place over the past several months. As annoying and insipid as Ino could be, he could not ignore how well Sakura did under her care. He both loved and hated this.

Ever since Ino had climbed down from her high horse and offered Sakura a kind gesture, Sakura had in no less terms, begun to bloom. It had been Ino who had suggested she get contacts as Sakura's replacement glasses, while more stylish, still constantly bothered her. And no longer did Ino stand at the sidelines and watch when people started to single Sakura out. Instead, she raged like a wild boar protecting her piglet. Not only that, but Ino's positive self esteem seemed to be rubbing off on Sakura just enough that she had regained the confidence she had in younger years, but not so much she had an inflated ego like the blonde.

But however beneficial Ino's influence was to Sakura, it had taken a heavy toll on Sasuke. It made him feel like he had been inadequate in protecting Sakura. He felt he had fallen short somewhere and failed to provide what Sakura needed to thrive.

He had once brought this up to his mother who had explained to him that he had not fallen short. It was not a failure or flaw, it was called being human. Everyone had strengths to offer but also weakness, and that was okay.

At first Sasuke didn't understand how he couldn't provide everything, but as time went on, Sasuke realized that as they got older, the less he understood about girls. Sakura was going through things, just as he and Naruto were. And that was when he understood. It all went back to this infernal puberty thing again. Just another one of the too many changes they were all going through and he hated it. He felt like he was losing her. The older they got, the more changes occured, and with each change, he felt like they were growing farther apart. And it did not help that a strange, nearly primal instinct within him, wanted her closer than ever.

Speaking of being apart, that was another reason why he hated all of these changes. Their group had grown over the months with Sakura making more friends, and those friends bringing their friends into their ever growing circle. As a result, they certainly spent a lot of time separated. Like right now.

Sasuke leaned against the booth that he, and the other boys in their group were hanging around. Each of them taking turns at the strength tester game as they competed against each other by passing off the hammer and seeing who could hit the lever hard enough to get the puck closest to striking the bell. Both Kiba and Naruto were currently fighting over the hammer, both eager to prove who was stronger. Their childish insults did nothing to make them look like the grown men they were trying to prove themselves to be and the face paint did not help.

Naruto was whiskered with the face of a fox while Kiba was fanged like a wolfish dog. Their boisterous shouts and brags nearly drowned out the rest of the chaotic noise of bells, whistles, music, and laughter around them. Nearby a sleepy Shikimaro let out a groan as he sat at an empty booth with his head down on the table, muttering about what a drag it was to be here. Sitting next to the slumbering sloth was Choji. Having just won a hot dog eating contest, the competitive eater was busy scarfing down an entire bag of cotton candy. After failing to calm down the squabbling pair, Neji joined Sasuke in his silent brooding. Together they attempted to drown out the loud shouting that was attracting far more attention than wanted, especially when Lee began to shout along with them about how they all had the power of youth within them, and were all equally strong if they just embraced their youth.

"Where are Ino and Sakura?" Neji sighed out when settled next to Sasuke. "They would have all of them silenced by now."

"Hn," Sasuke agreed. "Ino had to go to the bathroom."

"And Sakura?"

Sasuke gave him a look. "Ino had to go to the bathroom," he repeated. "Therefore they both had to go together."

"Ah," Neji sounded in understanding.

That was another one of the great and confusing mysteries. For some reason, while boys followed the unspoken rule of not standing next to each other when going to the bathroom, girls seemed to have an opposing rule of law. If one person had to use the restroom, then they all had to go as a group, whether they needed to use the restroom or not.

There was a loud ringing that sounded as a slew of lights began to flash, causing Sasuke to break thought from the unsolvable mysteries and habits of females. Looking over, he saw Choji standing next to the strength test with the hammer in his hands and Naruto and Kiba gaping. Choji gave a half shrug at his accomplishment but perked up immediately when the game operator presented him with a bag full of barbecue chips.

After Choji's second victory of the night, Ino and Sakura returned with Tenten and Hinata, who had each finished their shifts at their classroom booths. Having now all finished their shifts, the group was free to go about the rest of the night, exploring what the other classes and clubs had come up with in addition to the hired carnival attractions that the school had contracted to come in.

They first decided to check out the various rooms that the clubs had set up in the school building. First they stopped by the music club which gave a performance of popular songs played with traditional instruments. After enjoying a exotic rendition of a pop song performed on a shamisen and accompanied with a bow flute and drums, the group moved on down the hall and made their way to the science room where a haunted lab was being promoted by the science club.

As they waited in line for their group to enter, they watched as several other groups trickled out of the exit door of the room, some laughing and giggling with their friends, while others burst out in true terror. The girls stood huddled together, nervously questioning what would be inside each time a scared group walked past them. Hinata was the worst as she was nearly trembling at the knees.

Sasuke watched as Sakura and Tenten reassured her it would be fine and that they would each take up position in front and behind so she would be safe. Ino was already latching herself onto an unfortunate Shikamaru who had been so graciously bestowed the _privilege_ to be the blondes protector. Next to Sasuke, Naruto and Kiba boisterously mocked the groups that came out running and screaming as they scrutinized how scary a group of 'science geeks' could really make a classroom.

"It's not going to be that scary," Kiba scoffed.

"Yeah don't worry, Hinata," Naruto directed towards the raven haired girl, who nearly fainted when Naruto said her name. "These guys are so into science and being smart, they wouldn't have any room in their huge brains to even have imagination as to what really is scary."

As it turned out, the president of the science club just happened to be a horror fanatic and was also a member of the drama club and cinema club, who had all collaborated on the haunted laboratory. Therefore, he had a great imagination and plenty of resources to draw inspiration and authenticity from when it came to setting up the haunted lab.

They started entering the room in a group but were soon funneled into a line as a temporary wall forced them to spread out. It was pitchblack and they all stumbled and walked into each other as they blindly made their way down the first part.

"Ouch," came Tenten's cry of pain. "Who keeps stepping on my foot?"

"Apologies," came Neji's quiet response.

The occasional startled intake of breath or a quick squeal sounded when hanging fake cobwebs and streamers brushed their faces. Every once in a while, a louder yelp could be heard when the group caught up to another and touched the person in front of them as they navigated through the dark. But after a while, once they all got accustomed to the darkness enough to make out each other's faint silhouettes, only the shuffling of feet and heavy breaths of anticipation could be heard. Which made the unexpected loud bang against the wall caused the entire group to let out a unified shout.

As adrenaline spiked, so did the amount of pushing and shoving. The group raced through the corridor only to enter a contrasting bright room of swirled, hypnotizing black lines and white walls as a strobe light flickered on and off. In the center of the room was the only splash of color which consisted of a single red balloon. The group huddled together as they shuffled along the wall as one unit. Disoriented from the flashing light, they tried to figure out the direction that they needed to go, all while they tried to ignore the hovering balloon in the center.

It was then that the wall on the opposite side opened up and a clown that was far too accurately dressed as Pennywise entered and let out a crazed scream of laughter. His scream was echoed by the group as panic flooded the teenagers and they broke ranks. Choji was the first to spot the angled hidden exit and sprinted towards his escape as the rest of the group followed suit. Sasuke, Sakura, and Kiba taking up the rear.

Upon their escape, Sasuke the fabric of his yukata being pulled tight and he looked back to see Sakura grasping onto him. She looked sheepishly up at him but did not let go. Sasuke only gave her slanted smirk before reaching back and pulling her closer as they entered another dark hallway.

Through the rest of the science classroom turned mazed house of horrors, they moved from one terrifying experience to the next. After escaping the clown the maze of temporary walls led them into an extra terrestrial set up, complete with jars of aliens on a self, an abducted and tortured human experiment, and an alien that had jumped out of a small space pod. They had run down a narrow hallway which then led them into a typical slasher room that made their stomachs churn, and the candied apples they had earlier threatened to come back up. Finally, after escaping a small herd of zombies from a graveyard themed section and quickly passing through the grand finale of a mad scientist laboratory with all sorts of disturbing experiments, the group poured out into the hallway, half screaming and half laughing as they all shook and recovered from the experience.

In the safety of the hall and their earlier fright now becoming humorous. They all began to calm down and laugh as they reminisced and teased each other of who was scared the most. Even the ever stoic Sasuke had a goofy smile on his face as he listened to Tenten recount Neji's high pitched scream. A scream which the lavender eyed boy was denying no such thing had ever left his mouth and that it was Naruto who had been the one screaming. As Naruto loudly began to defend himself, Sasuke began to look around the group. As his dark gaze bounced from person to person, his smirk faded and the earlier unease that he had found himself feeling in the haunted science room returned.

Sakura was not with them.

She had been right behind him, holding onto the back of his shirt as if it was Ariadne's thread from greek mythology. However in the disorientation and adrenaline rushed sprint through the labyrinth of horror, she had let go at some point.

"Where is Sakura?" he suddenly asked, causing everyone to look around.

When no one gave an answer, his heart sank and he looked to Kiba who had been in the rear.

"You," he said sharply, "you were behind her the whole time weren't you?"

Kiba gave a sheepish shrug. "She was," he admitted. "But I may or may not have pushed past her when that mummy popped out of its tomb during that classic monsters room. You know, the one with dracula and that frankenstein's monster laying on the table…"

Sasuke grabbed onto the front of Kiba's yukata and pulled him close enough to be nose to nose. It had been a while since Sasuke had gotten into a fight, but not long enough for anyone to forget just how merciless he could get when it came to Sakura.

"And you just ditched her?" he growled. "You didn't think to check and make sure she followed?"

"I swear I thought she was right behind me!"

Sasuke let Kiba go and roughly pushed him away. "Some loyal dog you are," he muttered under his breath, as he walked towards the door they had all just burst through.

"Oi! Sasuke, what are you doing?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke looked back at the group. "We can't just leave her behind!"

"You want to go back in there?"

Sasuke looked at them all with astonishment. What did they mean go back in there? Where else would they be going? This was Sakura they were talking about, of course they had to go back. But as he looked questioning at them, he realized, it was _only_ him that would be going back. The rest were too scared.

"Just wait here in case I miss her and she comes out on her own." They all seemed much more comfortable with that idea and Sasuke did not even spare them a look as he rolled his eyes and opened the door to enter the haunted room all over again.

One would think that entering a dark lair of horrors from which you had just recently fled through would be terrifying, especially when going about it alone. But having already experienced the spooks and scares of the now familiar layout, going through a second time made things more trivial to Sasuke than terrifying. That and his entire focus was so strictly focused on finding Sakura that he hardly even noticed the ghosts and ghouls jumping out at him as he walked by.

He was already in the haunted graveyard with the zombies meaning the poltergeist room was next, which had come right after the classic monsters room where Kiba had said he lost her. As soon as he entered the next room, his dark gaze swept harshly around the small area. It was set up like an old parlor with cobwebs and candles all over. To his left was a pentagram and ouija board set up next to the fake fireplace and rocking chair. But his eyes had not even taken in the entire room when they paused on a ghostly body who had cornered a trembling figure. A figure that, despite the dim light, had brightly pink hair.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he zeroed in on the ghoul and marched over, grabbing onto the drama club member's shoulder. The kid spun around, his ghoulish face that had been thoroughly entertained with the torment he had been giving Sakura, quickly dissipated as he came nose to nose with Sasuke.

It did not matter how much makeup or special effects the ghostly kid had, for Sasuke held such a diabolical look in his face, that the kid took off screaming about a real demon being summoned. Sasuke watched as the kid fled before looking down to where Sakura was just now peeking through her fingers to look up at him.

The fear in her apple green eyes was replaced when recognition sparked and she leapt up to wrap her arms around him. As she expressed her relief, Sasuke gave her an awkward pat on the back. However Sasuke did not let it last long, not willing to risk his body to spontaneously reacting again. Stepping away from her, he gave her a hard look over.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I just," she began shakily, "I got a little turned around and didn't know which way I had come from."

There were many words that Sasuke wanted to say to that. Why she hadn't just started walking around and figured it out, why she didn't call out to him, why she had let go of him at all. But all of that would not do her any good. She was already shaken and Sasuke found that recently, he was becoming quite skilled with putting his foot in his mouth when it came to Sakura. So he decided to not say anything at all to avoid the risk of hurting her feelings. She had grown a thicker skin since befriending Ino but there were certain people whose words seemed to matter to her no matter what.

He let out a sigh, grabbing onto her hand. "Common," he said, trying to sound irritated instead of letting the insurmountable relief he felt from manifesting in his voice.

Through the haunted sections he led her, sometimes pulling her in closer while other times letting her relax as they went through the less scary parts. But not once did he let go of her hand, even when it had gone numb and started to tingle painfully from how tightly she grasped it, he never let go, determined to not lose her.

* * *

It was getting late. Ride operators were calling for final rides, game stalls were closing, and food vendors were peddling the last of their food off to anyone walking by in the significantly less crowded walkways. They all walked in a group, the girls walking ahead arm in arm as the boys followed, shoving each other and wrestling as they joked around. Sasuke walked stoically with the rowdy bunch with his hands stiff at his sides, wishing for pockets. When a high pitched shout of glee sounded from the girls ahead, he looked up to see Ino turning around to them as she pointed to the Ferris wheel next to them.

"Oh my gosh we have to ride the Ferris wheel before it closes!"

"Ew! Ferris wheels are for sissies," Kiba announced.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "It's so lame." He pointed to the go carts. "We should do that instead, it's more fun."

Ino put her hands on her hips. "But it's tradition! You can't go to a fair and not ride the ferris wheel. And it's the last ride of the night, everyone knows the ferris wheel is always best in its final ride when it's dark and all the lights are on."

"But what about the–"

"Ugg what drag," Shikamaru sighed as he interrupted Naruto's rebuttal. "Just forget it Naruto, it's less troublesome if you just let her have her way," he said as he braced his hands on the back of his head and started walking towards her in surrender.

His surrender was a catalyst for everyone else giving up on the fight as Naruto and Kiba trailed behind him and then the rest of the group fell into the line. Sasuke hung towards the back and as he got into the que, he found that Sakura had somehow ended up in the back as well.

"Hey," she said with a smile and rosy cheeks.

The color that had been lost during her abandonment in the horror room was now back in her cheeks after having run around the hall of mirrors. She had been a little shell shocked after her rescue and Sasuke had spent a large part of their evening force feeding her all her favorite treats in an attempt to get her back to her cheerful self. It had been his go to habit of raising her moral since their children and still worked like a charm.

"Hn," he responded in greeting.

This only seemed to make her smile more before turning away from him to move up in line. It did not take long before their group had made it to the front of the line. Given the high numbers of their group they were forced to split up into smaller pairs and trios in order to fit. Tenten and Neji were the first ones to board the ferris wheel. Hinata was about to board with them but the ride conductor had already latched them in before she could even climb up the stairs. This resulted in her getting onto the next cart along with Naruto. Kiba was about to board with them but Ino, ever that match maker, insisted that he needed to ride with her. After the blushing and panicking Hinata was whisked away with the blonde boy, another bench was ready for loading. Ino dragged both Kiba and Shikamaru on the next cart, placing herself in the middle and arranging her 'eye candy' accessories on either side of her. Given his already large size Choji was about to ride solo until the conductor called out for another solo rider. After a moment, a skinny boy with sunglasses holding a bug cage he had won earlier, came forward and joined him. This left only Sasuke and Sakura to ride together.

Once they boarded and the bar was locked into place over their laps, the ride was officially full and it began to rotate without any interruption. As they rose, Sakura let out a small intake of breath which caused Sasuke to turn his attention to her. They were nearing the top and she was gazing out across the school yard. The sun had descended past the horizon but there was a dim light in the western sky that was still a deep shade of indigo before it phased into the black and star speckled night sky. He watched her appreciate the sky then move her wide eyes to the festivities below, her mouth parting slightly with a small upturn as she took in the sight.

As if feeling his gaze, she turned to him. For a moment she seemed to hesitate under his scrutiny but after a moment, she gave him a soft smile. "It's so pretty," she commented.

"Hn," he grunted with a tone of agreement, not really taking in the sights as his attention remained mostly on her.

He was content in this moment, watching her be happy, and listening to her as she occasionally pointed to something she found particularly worth attention or making a comment. The night air had brought about a refreshing cool temperature that was just comfortable enough to not be too cold as the breeze from the movement of the ride rusted their hair lightly. He was so caught up in the moment and feeling relaxed that he had not even registered how long they had been going around when the ride came to a sudden stop.

He jolted forward from the force, grabbing onto the bar as Sakura's body leaned forward as well. She let out a sound of settlement that turned to laughter. Sasuke looked down and saw the conductor had begun the unloading. He looked back up to Sakura to see her smiling again.

"I thought we broke down for a second," she said before leaning forward to look down. "This is always my favorite part. A lot of people always hate the ferris wheel because of how long it takes to get off, but I like it."

As their bench swayed slightly and Sasuke looked around, he could not help but notice and understand what Sakura meant. It was nice. There was just something so calming and peaceful about it. Every once in a while the ride would begin to rotate slowly then pause as another carriage was unloaded. They were in the ascent of the wheels rotation now, giving them a near perfect point to take in the area. There was still music being carried in the air and with the small breeze, the lingering aromas of the food and sweet spring scents filled his nose. And with Sakura by his side, chatting away in her familiar way with happiness, with her face painted and wearing colors to highlight his favorite colorful features of her, he would call this moment almost perfect. _Almost_ being a fundamental word as they moved forward again and came to a stop right at the top.

As always, their bench swung and swayed as the ride was paused and Sasuke was allowed two peaceful seconds in his perfect state before the moment was shattered by a sound. A sound that came from two seats behind them and was produced by none other than a cousin who loved nothing more than to humiliate and antagonize Sasuke.

"Sasuke!" shouted Shisui.

The sound of his name caused both Sasuke and Sakura to turn around where they spotted Shisui sitting on a bench with Itachi. Shisui was busy rocking their cart energetically as poor Itachi grabbed on the bar in front of them, clearly not happy with the teeter tottering of their seat.

"Sasuke! Do it!" he cackled. "You're at the top, do it!"

Sasuke glared down at Shisui with venom in his eyes as he felt Sakura's attention turn to him.

"What is he talking about?" she curiously asked.

Sasuke turned to look at her and jolted back slightly, surprised by the close proximity of her confused face. For a moment, his eyes dipped down to look at her red tinted lips before he quickly raised his eyes back up to look at her eyes. Her brows knitted together in slight confusion but then her attention moved back to where Shisui was shouting up at them. Sasuke quickly grabbed her shoulders and turned her back around.

"It's nothing," he answered. "Just ignore him."

But unfortunately Sasuke's reaction and attempt to not acknowledge his cousin only fueled his older cousins antagonizing.

"Do it, do it, do it," Shisui cheered.

Sasuke felt his face burn a degree hotter with every cheer. When he hit a certain heated level of anger and mortification, it was like the pressure of a volcano hitting its limit. He spun around in their seat, his quick movement causing the chair to rock as he murderously glared down at his cousin.

"Shut up you pervert!"

Shisui only cackled. "Sasuke, it's tradition! You're gonna have bad luck if you don't do it! This hunk of metal is gonna suddenly fall apart and we are all going to die because you can't man up and kiss her! What's the big deal? Not up to date with you cootie shots? I promise you, it's totally worth the risk of becoming infected with them!"

"Shut it, Shisuー"

Sasuke choked on his cousin's name as he felt a light pressure on the side of his cheek, while at the same time felt Sakura press close to him, bringing her familiar scent. He turned his head to see Sakura biting her lip and looking at him worriedly as she pulled away from him.

"Sorry," she said quickly with wide eyes as if she was the one surprised by her actions. "It was just to get him to shut up."

Sasuke swallowed dryly and nodded, his body still rigid and stiff but no longer out of anger towards Shisui. Instead it was for a whole other reason in which he had no fathom of understanding.

For what seemed like minutes they stared back at each other, locked in each other's eyes. But the moment was completely shattered by a cackle of laughter followed by a high pitched squeal coming from the direction of two carts behind them.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" Shisui managed in what should have been an impossible pitch to reach for a practically adult male.

With the reality rudely crashing back to them, both Sasuke and Sakura suddenly became acutely aware of their surroundings. Their close proximity to one another. The highly visible point in which they sat for everyone to look up and see. The fact that Sakura had just seemed to cross a line that had never been crossed in their friendship. And then finally, the lack of escape from it all because he was locked in his seat forty feet up from the ground.

And then suddenly they both felt unnaturally hot for being out in the open cool night air. And in two seconds they were both inching away from each other as they pressed themselves up against their own side of the cart, trying to put as much distance in between them. Sasuke gripped the handle bar while Sakura's hands clenched in her lap as they both stared forward, sitting with their backs straight as a ramrod.

It was painfully awkward as they sat stiffly next to each other as their cart swayed slightly in the air. But it only got worse when the signing began.

"Sakura and Saucy, sittin' in a tree…"

Sasuke's knuckles had turned white as his hands clenched tightly to the bar securing him into this inescapable hell. _He was going to kill him,_ he thought to himself. First he was going to kill his cousin then die of humiliation himself.

The rest of the ride remained awkward and stiff and no longer did Sasuke share Sakura's appreciation for how long it took to unload the ride. He needed off. He was so desperate that he was contemplating just climbing down the skeletal structure of the ride if it at least meant he could escape Sakura's overbearing presence and Shisui's serenade. However he couldn't bring himself to move, the chances of him coming into closer proximity with Sakura as he climbed out was too high and he was not sure he could handle that. The already forced two feet of space on the bench between them, as they each pressed themselves as far enough away from the other, was two feet too close.

When they finally managed to have their turn to unload from the ride, Sasuke had practically ran away after a quick mumble and eye contact free goodbye to Sakura and his friends. He then had to endure a long drive home with Shisui in the same car, which took all restraint for him to not lunge across the back seat and strangle the curly haired Uchiha with his own seat belt.

By the time he got home, he was exhausted and tired and barely managed to make it to his bed without passing out. However the moment his head was resting on the pillow and his eyes fell shut, his mind seemed to gain a buzz of electricity. There was a spot on his cheek that suddenly seemed to be over sensitive and it only took him a moment to realize it was the place Sakura had kissed him on the ferris wheel.

For the first time since it happened, Sasuke found himself actually processing what exactly had happened. The peck she had given him was brief and quick, hardly a brushing of her lips against his skin that lasted less than a second. As he contemplated the feel and sensation, Sasuke could not help but think...it was nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well we got Shisui the boat builder in this chapter and he's shipping! Hope you all like this one, I may have gotten carried away with the haunted classroom, I live for Halloween and I have already been day dreaming about it since the beginning of July lol. At the moment I have two more ideas for the middle school age, unless there are some scenarios that people are wanting to see in the current age our lovely pair and friends are at. If so let me know and I will see what I can think up. 
> 
> As always take care and be your wonderful and excellent individual selves!
> 
> Next Up: The Party Games: The group is now in grade eight. Ino is having her birthday party and no longer are they playing pin the tale on the donkey or and eating cake. Instead its pocky sticks, truth or dare, and spin the bottle.


	10. The Party Games

" _Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"_

_The mantra of a dozen others chanting together competed against the roaring rush of his own blood as the heart within his chest beat furiously against his rib cage. In the dim light produced by the glowing plastic stars, moons, and planets stuck to the walls and ceiling of the small closet, Sasuke frigidly stared at Sakura who was standing as farly spaced from him as the limited area would allow._

_Sakura on the other hand was looking everywhere but at him. With her arms wrapped around herself, she bowed her head slightly as she let her bangs fall in front of her face that was burning with nervous embarrassment. He could tell by the way she vigorously chewed at her lip. He wanted to tell her to stop it, as she tended to always end up gnawing at her skin until it was bleeding. However the chastising words of reprimand lodged in his throat and he suddenly found it difficult to swallow._

_He could not think clearly with the infernal cheering, whopping, and cat calls sounding from the other side of the door. In a failed attempt to coach his mouth to move, to say something to break the suffocating tension smothering them, he found himself thinking of how tonight could change everything he loved and cherished between himself and the blushing girl in front of him._

_He hated it. He hated how everyone was changing. He hated how life was changing. He hated how his body was changing. It was chaos to what was once a perfect world of his. Sasuke did not like disorder, he did not like disruptions. And this...this was all of it bundled up and packaged with a bright red ribbon that would go with the rest of the pile of birthday presents that were all waiting to be opened later tonight._

_And the worst part was..._

_He only had himself to blame for this mess._

* * *

**One Day Earlier:**

He was standing at his locker, switching out his math text for his science when Naruto appeared in a bright flash of yellow and orange, accented with a white toothy grin.

"Yo Sasuke, you coming to Ino's party this weekend?"

"No," Sasuke replied flatly.

Naruto gaped at him. "What?! Why not? Everyone's going to be there!"

"Not if I can help it," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

While Ino was in the circle of _friends_ , _he_ wouldn't call her _his_ friend. She was Sakura's friend who just happened to hang around. He had a lot of those people flocking around him recently and the numbers were increasing as they got older. It didn't help that he was best friends with Naruto and Sakura, who seemed to have made collecting friends into a group a hobby. He liked them all he supposed, some more annoying than others, but they treated his friends well so he tolerated them.

However there was a down side to him tolerating them. It meant more commitments and more hassle. Like attending birthday parties and finding activities that were more accommodating to larger groups. Hanging out was no longer simple, it required coordination.

"Wait, you mean that's _this_ weekend? As in tomorrow?" Shikamaru asked as he came to lean against the wall of lockers on Sasuke's other side. "Uggg what a drag. I had plans this weekend."

" _You_ had plans?" Neji commented in disbelief as he too joined the growing gathering of young teenagers. "What did that entail? Sleeping in till noon and then taking a nap after lunch?"

Sasuke was not exactly sure why his locker had to serve as the local watering hole before, between, and after classes, but somehow it had just worked out that way. It had started out because Naruto's locker was next to his but as their group grew, they all habitually gathered there. Soon Choji showed up with Shino, an awkward boy that no one really knew how he came to be a friend, he just showed up here and there at random.

"Hey did you guys see Sakura yet!" Kiba said loudly as he bounded up to them like a husky about to get a treat for being a ' _good boy, yes he was_ '. He let his bag fall to the ground without a care to the books inside and leaned against the lockers. "She got her braces off!"

"Bah," Naruto scoffed. "That's old news."

"Naruto you just barely found out this morning on the way to school," Sasuke said, calling him out.

"We still knew before anyone else!" Naruto bragged.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He was tempted to shove it in Naruto's face that he knew she was getting them off weeks ago, but he would not allow himself to sink that low. Besides, Sakura had told him in confidence and had asked him not to say anything.

Kiba shrugged Naruot's bragging off as he continued to look excitedly at the group. "Anyways, Haruno's pretty cute without them now!" Kiba continued. "I mean she might even give Ino a run for her money now. Sure Ino's got boobs but she's too high maintenance."

"She's like a bud that has finally begun to bloom, and will someday be the most beautiful flower in the garden," Lee, who had arrived with Kiba, cried enthusiastically. "When she smiles it is like when the clouds part and the sun shines down on the earth! Warm and life giving!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Lee's antics. However it went unnoticed to the others as he stiffly continued to dig through his locker, looking for nothing in particular as he listened to the group give their input on Sakura's changed look. He was confused, Sakura had always had a nice smile, why was everyone all of a sudden making it a big deal?

"She's going to be at the party right?" Kiba asked. "I mean, at last year's party that Ino had, I ended up making out with that Ami girl. Maybe this year it'll be Sakura."

Sasuke slammed his locker shut and turned around to walk away. His shoulder slammed roughly into Kiba as he walked away.

"Ouch! What's his problem?" Kiba asked, rubbing his shoulder and looking around at the group of boys who all shrugged. There was never telling what exactly Sasuke's problem was.

"Oi bastard!" Naruto shouted. "Where are you going? We were going to shoot hops after school today!"

Sasuke gave him a dark look from over his shoulder. "Hn, I have things to do. I'll see you tomorrow at the party."

"Huh?! But I thought you weren't going?!" Shouted down the hall to him.

* * *

Sasuke jabbed the doorbell all too harshly, nearly jamming his finger in the process. Finally after a minute, which was about 59 seconds too long for Sasuke's patience, the door was opened to a very blonde Ino. Sasuke took five seconds to take in the birthday girl wearing a semi formal dress, sash, sporting newly manicured nails, and the tiara resting on her freshly styled blonde head. If there was anything that Ino was, it was extra.

"Sasuke you made it!"

As soon as he got past the glitzy diamond tiara, Sasuke shoved the perfectly wrapped package he was holding into her hands and he wordlessly stepped into the house. Leaving Ino to shut the door behind them he made his way to the basement. Already he could hear the rest of the party invites had already gathered and in full swing.

He hadn't meant to be late, in fact when he found out Sakura was to get ready with Ino before and would not be arriving with him, he had been adamant for the first time in his life that he would be the first to arrive. But then his mother took too long wrapping the present and Itachi had left for practice with his mother's car before she was done. So Shisui had been the one to take him. Driving insufferably slow on purpose all while claiming to be a responsible driver. Despite the fact that he had already accumulated three speeding tickets in the past six months.

As grateful he was to Ino for providing what he could not, they had their different opinions on what was best for Sakura. It was like they were co parenting but co friending and each had their different methods. Sasuke hovered like a helicopter, determined to protect and shelter her from the world. Meanwhile, Ino was all about putting her on display for the world to see and pushing her out to experience that world. It wasn't like Sasuke wanted to lock Sakura away from everyone, he just wanted to keep her happy and safe- and to himself- but that was beside the point. He just needed to monitor Ino's actions, make sure she didn't push Sakura too much. There was no telling what kind of trouble Ino would get Sakura into if left unattended. He knew how teenage boys thought and felt because he was one. He just at least seemed to have slightly more control of said urges.

Sasuke descended the stairs, pausing on the bottom step as he looked out across the gathering of wrestling, dancing, flirting, and gossiping young teenagers. As always his dark eyes found her quickly. However, unlike always, he did not immediately gravitate towards her. Instead he took a moment to look at her, really look at her.

They say a flower will never blossom when someone is watching. It only happens when you look away, and when you look back, it has already bloomed into a full rose. And like her namesake, Sakura was a flower. One that seemed to only ever be a bud. At least that was how everyone else had seemed to paint her over the years. But recently, everyone kept talking about her sudden change of appearance. Sasuke did not understand this at all because she always looked like Sakura to him. He had always liked the way she looked.

However now, as he looked at her, it was as if he had looked away from that flower and looked back. And he understood. Sakura was not the same girl he had always known. She had changed. He now understood why everyone was making such a big deal about her appearance lately. He never wanted to think himself like them, judging her on her appearance. He had always thought her nice looking. But now...now he understood.

He wasn't even sure exactly what the exact change in her appearance was. Everything just seemed...better. Her body had shape now. Not a lot, but enough to make her look more like the woman she was becoming than the child she used to be. Her hair had grown out more and she styled it ever so differently that it framed her face more flattering and it flowed and shined with healthy luster. He couldn't deny it, without the braces, her smile was wider, brighter, warmer. And without the weight of the metal attachments, she seemed lighter in nature, more happy and confident which brought about a shining light to her eyes that made the vivid green even more alive and alluring.

He had always thought her pretty, but now, she was beautiful.

* * *

Ino called out for everyone's attention as she stood primely on the stairs. As the room calmed down and all attention was set to her as she always preferred.

"It's time for the games!" She called enthusiastically and smiled widely. With her purple dress and flashy hair she looked very much like Effie Trinket announcing the hunger games in Sasuke's opinion. Too gleeful for what was about to come. "First up-" she pulled out a box of candy from behind her back- "pocky-sticks!"

Sasuke let out a groan, feeling very much like he just entered the hunger games. As Ino began passing out straws to determine who would be each other as partners, Sasuke watched closely as Sakura withdrew a short straw from Ino's clenched hand. Sasuke let out a small sigh of relief, no one had pulled out a short straw and there were only two left when Ino turned to him. Unfortunately it seemed the odds were never in his favor as he pulled out a long straw and the matching one to Sakura's was left for Tenten. He supposed Tenten was safe enough but despite that thought, he could not ignore the twinge of disappointment.

"Ready," Ino called once everyone was paired with their partner. Two parallel lines ran down the room as Ino stood in the middle looking down the middle. "Set…" Ino paused for her signature dramatic effect "...go!"

It was like the butterfly effect. A single word fluttering in the air and causing a chain of disastrous reactions.

*Thud*

A crimson faced Hinata, who was partnered with Naruto, crashed down to the ground. In seconds Naruto was hovering over her as he uselessly fanned her face. However it didn't last long before Neji, who had abandoned his partner, pulled him off to help the fainting girl sit up as she came to. Shikamaru, whose partner was Neji, had already found the closest comfortable spot and shut his eyes for a quick power nap. _Party games always were such a drag_. All the while, Naruto had lost his footing when Neji pushed him away from Hinata, causing him to bump into Choji who fell forward onto his partner. Kiba, being currently pinned beneath Choji's weight, made a sound like a hurt dog yipping in pain while Shino, who somehow ended up partnered with himself, tried to dig him free.

"Sasuke," Lee cried out across from the ebony brooder, seemingly oblivious to the chaos. "While I had hoped to be paired with my blossom, it is an honor to be your partner. There is nothing wrong as long as we embrace our youth and win this together!"

He gave Sasuke a bold wink before putting an end of their pocky-stick in his mouth and gave him an encouraging thumbs up. Sasuke's brow twitched and his hand came up to break off half of the stick. Crushing the sweet treat in his hands, he let the crumbs fall to the ground from his fist before walking away, leaving a shocked face Lee looking down at the pocky-stick dusted floor as if it were the crumbs of his own broken heart.

* * *

After Sakura and Tenten ended up winning by each taking a nibble from the end of their pocky-stick, Ino was determined to rev up her party. They would be entering high school next year and she was determined to have a notable reputation for her parties upon entry. And what better way was there to get people talking, than forcing them into unpredictable and uncomfortable situations. Thus she moved on to the next game: King's Rule.

Ino was busy pulling out a deck of cards as she forced everyone into a circle. "Listen up," she said with a commanding tone, shuffling the cards in her hands as she marched like a drill sergeant in the center circle and eyeing everyone. "This next game is King's Rule. She pulled out enough cards from the deck to distribute among the group and started passing them out, giving out specific instructions for no one to look at their card yet as she slapped Kiba's hand when he began to curiously peek at the card she handed him. "You will all get a different number except one of you will have the king."

She passed a card out to the final person leaving the final card for herself. Taking a seat in the circle next to Sakura, she looked around to everyone, all of them wearing different expressions of excitement, weariness, nervousness, and of course with any group that included a certain Uchiha, _annoyance._

"You can all look at your cards now, whomever as the King face card gets to announce what numbers will be involved and what the people possessing those numbers must do."

"Tch," Sasuke tsked. "This is stupid. I'm out."

He moved to stand but something grabbed onto his wrist. Had it been anyone else he would have wrenched himself free but he knew that touch. Closing his eyes for a moment, he let out a long sigh before turning his head and slowly opening his obsidian eyes to look at her.

"Sasuke, it's her birthday," Sakura pleaded in a whisper. "Please, just be nice."

Her head fell slightly to the side, causing her hair to drape over her shoulder like a curtain, blocking off the rest of the group so he could only focus on her. There was that strange churning in his stomach and he became hyper sensitive to her fingers still wrapped around his wrist. He moved his arm to not so subtly sever their connection as he looked away from her bright eyes.

"Fine," he bit out. Knowing full well he was going to regret this.

"Who has the King?" Ino called out.

Naruto's hand shot up. "I do, I do!" he eagerly announced, before looking devilishly around at the group. "And my first command is that whomever has the number seven must sit in number two's lap for three rounds."

"I hafth numbther theven," Choji said through a mouthful of BBQ chips. He stood up and looked expectantly around.

There was a long pause. Some peeked down at their card and let out a sigh of relief while others curiously peeked at their neighbors cards.

"Who has number two?" Ino called out.

Sasuke looked down at his card and silently stared down at the two of spades. A slow groan started at the back of his throat. He was just about to hide the card up his sleeve before a prying Naruto peeked over his shoulder. Before Sasuke could hide the card, the blonde had snatched it from his clenched fingers and was waving it in the air.

"Here! Here," he annoyingly cheered. "Sasuke has it!"

Sasuke's head fell back and he stared up at the ceiling as if praying to the gods to strike him down then and there. Yes...he truly was going to regret this.

* * *

"Never have I ever left the country," Sakura said looking slightly ashamed as everyone else put down a finger.

Most of those who went to their school left the country at least once or twice a year. Their families owned property and houses in several different locations around the world. It was not often that Sakura seemed to let the financial divide between herself and her classmates bother her. But over the years, as they had gotten older, Sasuke noticed that Sakura became slightly more self conscious. It was not that she felt ungrateful for what her parents achieved and provided for her. There were things she was far richer in than any number of wealthy students she went to school with. But the older they got, the more she seemed to become aware of just how much less she had experienced than her peers.

"Never have I ever been kissed by a boy," Kiba said, who had somehow managed to sit by Sakura. And with Ino sitting on the pinkette's other side- her ten fingers gone in the first ten nevers- Sasuke was forced to sit apart from her. So he found himself opposite of her in the circle, having about as much fun as he had in their last game.

After the feeling had come back to his legs after Choji's weight cut off all circulation, Sasuke had to endure several rounds of watching and participating in various ludicrosities and humiliations. Not to mention experiencing a bout of blinding rage as he was forced to watch Sakura press herself against Kiba as they wrapped their arms around each other as they stood together on a stool for a full minute, each of them balancing on a single foot. It had not done well for his mood. Now, he was unhappily waiting for everyone to get out so they could finally end this eternal round of games. However the souring events had only just begun for him as another happening took place.

At first he missed it because Naruto was busy elbowing him in the ribs. Looking to his right, Naruto was annoyingly eyeballing his two fingers he was still holding up. Naruto gave him another, not so subtle nudge and Sasuke rolled his eyes, putting down a finger and keeping the remaining one up. It had been eight years since the incident of Shikamaru pushing his chair out and causing Naruto's lips to be introduced to his, and he had still yet to live it down. However, before the full distaste could fully take effect, at the memory, Sasuke was distracted by Kiba's bark of surprise.

"No way Sakura!"

Sasuke's head whipped around and zeroed in on the pinkette sitting across from him. As soon as his eyes landed on her, she averted hers, ducking her head as the tips of her ears began to turn red. Despite her obvious discomfort, Sasuke continued to stare wide-eyed as he noted that she only had four fingers remaining. Finally, his expression shifted into one of confusion. She had five fingers up just a moment ago...yet why was she only holding up four now?

The dawning of what it meant hit him in the gut and a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach began to form. Ino and Kiba immediately began to interrogate Sakura, but she was quick to point out that was not how the game was played. All the while, this exchange was only half way acknowledged by Sasuke as his mind whirled so quickly to devise an explanation, his brain currently short circuiting with the overwhelming information that Sakura had been kissed by another boy. In fact he was so fixated on figuring out how Sakura could possibly be validated to put a finger down for kissing a boy, that he had not even noticed when they moved onto the next game.

* * *

It was prosperous. _She must have misunderstood the phrasing of it,_ he thought to himself. _Maybe she thought it was 'kissed a boy', not 'been kissed by a boy'_. As he sat zoned out, his head began to absentmindedly move up and down in a nod as thought. _Yes, Of course, that was it. She had kissed him last year at the festival and mistook Kiba's never._

_But what if she hadn't been mistaken_ , a treacherously slimy voice whispered at the back of his mind.

Sasuke stilled at the thought and his eyes moved up to look at Sakura, who was animatedly talking with Tenten. He watched her for a long time. She would have told him if someone kissed her...wouldn't she? He would have known. He knew everything about her, they didn't keep secrets.

But even as that thought crossed his mind, he shifted uncomfortably, a twinge of guilt taking over the green eyed monster that had been shifting in his belly. Slowly, his eyes moved from Sakura to around the room, looking suspiciously at every other boy in the room, watching, observing, silently accusing as he tried to imagine _who_ would have been bold enough to kiss her.

"Sasuke? Hellooooo…"

Sasuke broke from his thoughts and looked towards an expectant looking Ino. "Hn?" he hummed in question.

"Dude, we are playing truth or dare?" Naruto whispered at his side. "You were picked, you have to answer the question Ino asked you."

Sasuke looked back to Ino. "What was the question?"

Ino was looking at him with malicious intent. "Who. Do. You. Like?" She repeated with emphasis.

"Tch," he scoffed. "That's stupid. What's the dare if I don't answer?"

A look of excitement came to Ino face, one that had her grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Oooooh that means who you like is juicy!"

The room suddenly seemed a lot more quiet than it was two seconds ago. Sasuke scowled as everyone seemed to lean in, even those who were not playing or where playing other games seemed to be eagerly awaiting his answer. Especially the girls which the party consisted of nearly their entire year.

"Tch," he scoffed. "No, it's just a boring question for the game when I don't like anyone."

Everyone, especially the girls, seemed to deflate with the lack of gossip material he provided. Each member of his fan club looked depressed as if they all actually thought he would call out their name and make some kind of dramatic confession in front of everyone.

Across from him, Ino's eyes narrowed as it seemed she was the one who did not fully accept his answer. But Sasuke kept a straight face. Not that he needed to try. It was the truth. He didn't like anyone….didn't he?

Ino's blue eyes darted to someone and Sasuke followed her attention to see Sakura sitting quietly. Her eyes almost intentionally not looking in his direction as she somberly sat at her spot in the circle. Finally, the sighs of heartache and disappointment of Sasuke's claim simmered down and Ino addressed Sasuke again.

"Fine, your turn Uchiha," she said, her tone coming out slightly brash which had Sasuke wonder why she was suddenly angry at him. "You get to choose someone next."

Sasuke looked around the room, his dark eyes skimming over those playing the game, and skipping over hopeful ogling girls. If he gave any extra attention to any of his fans it would be seen as encouragement. Finally, his eyes fell on Sakura and he shifted slightly to look at her more directly.

"Sakura," he said monotonously, causing the pinkette to sit up straight then slowly look at him.

There was a long pause. He had known the question he would ask long before he even knew he was going to pick her. Yet, there was something within him that stalled the words from leaving his tongue. Perhaps it was the wiggling green monster at the pit of his stomach. Perhaps it was the tightness in his throat that made speaking difficult. Or maybe...just maybe...he really did not want to know the answer. It was strange to think how blissful and content he was with how things were when he was ignorant. But now, like many things over the past few years, the situation had changed.

"Who was your first kiss?"

Instantly her face turned red as her eyes widened. Her head moved back and forth slightly, as if pleading him to ask a different question. But for the first time in his life, Sasuke did not even struggle with denying her wishes. He wanted- no, _needed_ to know _._

Within the lap of her crossed legs, Sakura wrung her hands as she looked around at all the expectant eyes. She was half tempted to take the dare instead but there was no telling what she might have to do. Why would Sasuke do this? Was he mad at her? If anything this was the kind of stuff he usually protected her from. He knew she did not like situations like this. And why, of all the questions in the world, did he have to ask her that?

"Um...well…" Her mind buzzed for what to do. "It was a boy from my families hometown," she supplied. "Last summer when my family went back we hung out a few times and...um…" She was rambling. She was not even answering the question right. It was _who_ , not _when_. Her eyes darted to Sasuke which only made it worse. His penetrating stare was hard to read and it unnerved her. "Gaara," she quickly answered. "His name was Gaara."

* * *

Sasuke was sulking in a corner, nursing a coke as he glowered at the main group of the party. Several girls had come to approach him, hoping to recruit him for one of their games, or to dance, or take a walk outside by the pool. All of them were rejected without the use of a single word, only a dark glare or a prolonged period of time in which they were flat out ignored and finally took the hint.

Ino had changed up the game again and when she pulled out an empty coke bottle and put it in the center of the group, it was the final straw for him. He was done playing nice and participating in Ino's stupid games. It was like she gained some sort of sadist pleasure in seeing people forced into uncomfortable situations. However, just because he had no desire whatsoever to engage in such activities, his attention was riveted on the dwindling circle as people moved on to dance, socialize, and take a dip in the pool.

Sakura had been bowed out as well and had been in the theater room where a video game tournament was taking place. However, when she had come out for snacks, Ino took it upon herself to reintroduce Sakura into the circle of the game when she had been passing by and the blonde pulled her down to join.

With a smile that Sasuke spitefully labeled as wicked and vile, Ino put the coke bottle into Sakura's hand and prodded her to spin it. Sasuke watched in horror as Sakura leaned forward, placed the bottle on the floor in the center of the circle, and flicked her wrist.

The bottle spun rapidly, turning into a blur as its clear glass reflected the flashing colorful lights that came from the dance corner. Soon the friction of the floor caused the bottle to slow and its rotation became slow enough to count each individual revolution it made. Then the bottle began to approach its stopping point, passing by eager looking boys with their fingers crossed and leaving them disappointed and giving Sasuke a kind of gratification.

And then it hit him. The bottle _would_ eventually stop and whomever it stopped on, Sakura was going to kiss. She was going to add another person to the, all too quickly, growing list of people Sakura had kissed.

His calculative eyes took in the rate in which it was slowing and counted out to the person in the circle in which he predicted it would stop on. When his eyes landed on Kiba's wide grin as he watched the bottle eagerly, Sasuke's stress levels peaked and he was moving before his mind could even register his feet were crossing the floor.

No way in _HELL_ was he letting the mutt slobber all over Sakura.

He arrived at the circle in perfect timing to shove Kiba to the side and take a seat just as the bottle came to a stop...pointing right...at...him. He smirked slightly in triumph.

"What the hell Uchiha!" Kiba protested.

Sasuke could not help but give him an arrogant look.

"Sasuke that's cheating!" Ino exclaimed. "You can't just join in the middle of a round."

Sasuke turned his head to give Ino a smug look. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize newcomers were not allowed...guess Sakura's spin doesn't count." He looked at Sakura. "Common Sakura." He stood, grabbing onto Sakura and forcing her to rise with him.

He had just turned around to walk away when Ino's word caused him to stop dead in his tracks. "Wait, wait. You're right, Sasuke, that wouldn't be fair. But I think we can make an exception for you two…" Sasuke slowly turned back around to look at the blonde to find her grinning all too sweetly at him. "You both can join...you just have to buy your way in with a special round."

"Tch," he scoffed. "Why would we do that? It's a stupid game."

Ino narrowed her eyes at him, her icy glare doing nothing to him until it shifted to Sakura and a small smile came to her red lipstick lips. "That's fine. What about you, Sakura. Sasuke's too cowardly but what about you? Wanna buy in?" she offered. "I will let you take your pick of the group for a partner since Sasuke's out."

"Hold up Ino," Sasuke interfered quickly when he felt Sakura take a step forward. There once was a time when he could hold her back, but Sakura had grown stubborn over the years. She didn't take as kindly to being dragged around nor told what to do. Which left him with no other option. "I said it was a stupid game...not that I wouldn't play."

Ino did not even seem phased. In fact, it was almost as if he had just said exactly what she wanted. And Sasuke was reminded just why he did not like her. She was a maestro when it came to manipulating and forcing people into doing things only she wanted them to do. She was the devil's span. Only trouble was...he wasn't sure of her motive.

"Alright, so you're in?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Just spill it Ino. What do we have to do."

Her ruby lips split into an evil grin, making her look like the demon Lilith incarnate. "Seven minutes in heaven. Though for you two I will make it eight," she added with a devious wink.

There was a long pause as Sasuke stared at her, not quite understanding what Ino was talking about. And then the dawning reality of what he had just done and agreed to hit him and he realized….he did NOT think this through.

* * *

_And thus he found himself confined in a game closet with Sakura and a crowd of cheering peers right outside the door._

With a fidgeting movement, Sakura tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You know we don't have to do this," she said in a strained whisper. Her eyes were focused on the stack of board games that were on the shelf eye level to her. He watched her head turn as she opened her mouth to speak. "We could just say we kissed. No one would know."

_He would know,_ his mind replied.

And he was not so sure he wanted that hanging over him. Despite how much he didn't want to change things between them. There was something in him that despised the thought that Sakura's first kiss was with some insignificant boy she hardly sees or talks to. _Or did she?_ She had been around for so long in his life he often forgot that she had not always been there. It made him wonder just how different his life would be without her. Had he not gone to the park that day, had he not brought her home, what exactly would life be like?

The thought of is was torture enough. To live it, would be hell.

He cleared his throat. "Yeah...sure...whatever," he said in a low monotone.

_Ten...Nine…_ the group outside the door was counting down the remaining time they had left.

Suddenly, Sasuke's already elevated heart began to palpitate rapidly. Adrenaline rushed through his body and now he felt like he was about to start some sort of race.

_Seven...Six…_

He looked at Sakura who was looking at him. Her lower lip was pulled back by her nervous teeth as her hands unlatched from their tangled grip to move behind her as she rocked on the balls of her feet.

_Five...Four..._

He grabbed her face and pulled her towards him. Her lip was released as she let out a small gasp of startlement that was cut short when his lips connected with hers. It was chaste and short. By the time he pulled away the count down was only at three and Sakura's eyes were staring widely at him.

But he hardly paid any mind to her. He was too preoccupied with leaving the suddenly, even more suffocating, confines of the closet as he wrestled to keep his face calm and collected, despite the fact that he was ninety-nine percent sure he was experiencing all signs and symptoms of a heart attack as he dizzily opened the door and walked out. But as perfectly composed his face was arranged, there was nothing he could do to stop the tint of pink that was coloring his cheeks and the tips of his ears.

He had evacuated the closet so quickly that he was gone before Sakura's mind even had a chance to catch up to the events that just transpired. She was left alone in the closet, staring at the vacant space that Sasuke had been standing at earlier. Slowly, her hand went up to her mouth as she touched her tingling lips which still held a warmth from his.

Sasuke had kissed her...Sasuke had just kissed her...She had just gotten her first kiss and it was from Sasuke Uchiha.

Yes, first. Because the truth was, Sakura had lied. During the game of _Never Have I Ever,_ Sakura had lied when she put down a finger. She had been feeling self conscious when everyone else seemed to have done so much more than her. So she had subtly lowered her index finger, not thinking anyone would notice. And of course, someone had but once but she had played it off and it seemed everyone easily let it go. But then Sasuke had to go and target her during _Truth or Dare_ and she was forced to lie again. It would have been even more humiliating to say she lied so she had come up with another lie about her old friend from her trip back to her hometown last summer. It wasn't like any of them would ever actually meet Gaara. Suna was not exactly the hot spot for a vacation. Well...it _was_ hot, excruciatingly so. But that was exactly why no one would go there.

Her grief and guilt over her white lie was lost when her mind suddenly replayed what had just happened. With her fingers still touching her lips, her mouth slowly formed the smallest of smiles. Then it grew and she let out a small giggle of happiness.

"Hey forehead," Ino said, sticking her head into the closet. Her long hair swung from her high ponytail as the blonde gave her a curious look. "You coming out or not?"

Sakura gave her a goofy grin. "Yeah, be right there."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I did not realize how long its been since I updated this story. Sorry about that. For some reason I had some difficulty figuring out how I wanted it to flow. 
> 
> Stay safe and take care of yourselves!
> 
> Next Up: The Confession Rejections


	11. The Confession Rejections

There was something about nearing the end of middle school that made people suddenly want to confess one's feelings to another as if it was the last time they would ever see their crush. As if they never said anything, they would regret it for the rest of their lives. Sasuke didn't get it.

Not only was the odd need that girls seemed to have was a mystery but it annoyed him tremendously as it was a headache for him. He had intentionally made it blatantly obvious that he had no interest in dating anyone, or having any interest in anyone for that matter. It seemed too soon and pointless. He had watched his peers pair up, break up, and pair up again with someone else in less time than the previous relationship even lasted. Which, by the way, was never very long. And every time there was a break up or new relationship, the school exploded in drama, gossip, and everything else Sasuke disliked.

It made girls jealous, boys fight, and friendships break apart. And for what? Holding hands in the hallways and swapping spit behind the school during breaks for a week? To him it just didn't seem worth it. It was perhaps because he was more reserved, but Sasuke never saw the point in a relationship unless it was going to go somewhere. And right now, none of them were going anywhere. They were still stuck in school, still living with and off their parents, and had far too many more years of it to think that far into the future.

Yet for some reason, girls who he had hardly said a word to seemed to think that if they professed their undying love and devotion to him through a note that was cowardly slipped into in locker or backpack with sickeningly sweet chocolates, he would suddenly be stricken with an infatuation with them. Some were even bold enough to ask to speak with him privately and when he stood them up, they would try to pressure him into accepting their feelings by doing it publicly. It was as if they thought he would care about being perceived as an asshole.

But that's where they went wrong. Sasuke was a natural born asshole from the time he was old enough to frown, which had been earlier than most babies. And he could care less of what people labeled him. If anything he hoped people perceived him as such so they would leave him alone. Unfortunately, his asshole tendencies were never perceived as such. In the crazed obsessed minds of his fans, it just made him look like a bad boy. Which apparently was a good thing amongst his twitterpated peers.

"Sasuke-kun..."

And then there were the girls that trapped him unexpectedly. They waited for him outside the bathroom, cornered him in the courtyard, and trapped him by sitting in the seat next to him during classes. This one had caught him off guard in the stairwell on his way to lunch period after being delayed by a teacher who wanted to talk to him about being distracted in class.

 _It wasn't his fault he was distracted,_ he mentally argued. How was he supposed to focus on the history of an ancient group that hadn't existed for centuries, when Sakura was passing notes back and forth with Idate, the new boy in class that she had taken upon herself to befriend because he was quote, end quote: 'new and needed friends'. Why she had to be that 'friend' he didn't know why.

Every time the cursed paper landed on her desk she gave out a smile that Sasuke could not help but follow. This was an action that had become a habit of Sasuke's as of late. Ever since Ino's birthday party, he was always looking at her lips. When she spoke, he read her words more than he listened to them. When she smiled, he memorized the pull of her lips as they revealed her braces free smile that he had still yet to get used to ever since he had noticed that yes, it did make her look different. When she took a drink, when she put on chapstick, when she licked her lips. It all drew his eye.

"Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke snapped out of his thoughts, as he focused on the girl before him. Instantly his eyes narrowed and his brows drew together as he glared down at her. It was then he noticed the pink envelope clutched in her hands.

"I-I…" she bent at the waist as she held out the envelope to him as she bowed. "Please accept my feelings for you."

There was a long, drawn out silence before the girl peeked up at him. And then, slowly, Sasuke took the envelope from her hands and looked at it with a bored expression. The girl, interpreting his actions wrong, straightened as a look of hopeful adoration began to bloom across her face and a star struck twinkle in her eyes began to shine. Sasuke had never, _**never**_ , accepted a gift from any of his admirers. Her heart fluttered as a triumphant smile came to her lips. However it only existed for a fraction of a second before Sasuke tore the love letter in half, not even breaking the seal to read its contents.

When the letter was nothing but scraps of unrecognizable pieces of what it once was, he released them to flutter to the ground like confetti. Only there was no cause for celebration as the girl stared down at the pieces of poetic confession, feeling like it was a representation of the state of her heart. Broken, shattered, and trampled.

"What?" he questioned when she looked up at him with a shocked expression and tears brimming in her eyes. "Did you actually think that I would accept that?"

"..."

"I don't even know who you are? I've never seen you in my life."

"We-we have social studies together," she answered with a broken voice. "And last year I sat right behind you in literature."

"And how does that give you the right to think I would want anything to do with you?"

"..."

Again when the girl failed to say anything, Sasuke had concluded that he had made his answer clear and was no longer obligated to say anymore or linger. "Tch." He stepped around her to continue down the stairs, shoving his hands in his pockets. He made it to the landing with the window before he was prevented to continue down the next flight by the girl's voice.

"It's because of _that_ girl, isn't it."

Sasuke turned around to look up at the girl who was still standing on the stairs where he had rejected her. Only no longer did she look heartbroken and sad, instead she looked angry and jealous. While he didn't show it, there was a tightening in his stomach as an alarm went off in his head at the expression she was displaying and the tone in which she had spoken.

He had seen that look before on other girls in the past. The ones that used to tease and hurt Sakura. The ones who called her names and picked on her because they were jealous of her friendship and closeness with him. It had been a long while since anyone had done that. He was aware of the green eyed monstrous looks those jealous of her gave, but no one had been daring enough to actually do anything in a while.

However, there was something in this girl's eye that didn't sit right with him. She had her immature heart just broken and was looking for anyone else to blame for. Because it certainly could not have been because of her own foolish actions and fantasies. He needed to stop her, stop her right now before she got any notion or ideas to act out.

"Why would I ever have feelings for her?" he said in a cool monotone. "She's a friend. That's all."

"But you don't treat the other girls that are in your group like her. You treat her differently. You treat her special. I remember you used to defend her all the time and get into fights. You almost got expelled because of her."

"And you think that was because I like her?" he sneered, forcing as much contempt into his voice. As if the very idea disgusted him. "We grew up together. If anything she's like a sister. I protect her because she is weak and I don't like cowards who pick on weaklings." He gave her a warning look. "So if I ever hear or even think you are spreading false rumors about my _friendship_ with her, I will make sure that you never set foot inside of any school in this city. Understood?"

The girl, her eyes wide and fearful now, quickly nodded her head as she turned and ran away up the stairs. Sasuke watched her flee before giving a long sigh, shutting his eyes as he leaned against the tall window of the stairwell.

He was irritated at the girl but most of all, he was angry at himself. He hated liars yet he was the biggest one of them all. Never, in the entirety of Sasuke's life had he ever thought or even tried to view Sakura as a sister. She was Sakura and only Sakura to him. However that girl did not know that, nor would she ever understand that. No one seemed to, not even himself. Because the truth was, Sasuke no longer knew how he felt about Sakura.

It had started sporadically and muddled at first. But recently, he found it was everything now. Nothing between them was familiar and no longer felt natural. Some of it he knew it had to do with the physical changes but even then that was not the limit. It was like he didn't know how to act around her anymore. He found himself overthinking his actions and analyzing every reaction that she gave him. And talking to her had become extremely difficult, let alone just looking at her in the eye. Any time he did it was like his mind went blank and could only think about her and him, locked in a closet.

_Could it be that he liked her? Like, like-liked her?_

He let out a scoff. Of course he didn't. It was the kiss, ever since that kiss, things had changed between them. He knew he shouldn't have done it. He knew it would make things weird between them...but he had been curious. He had wanted to know what it was like.

He felt himself getting warm in the face as he recalled his bold action. Then that pesky thought crossed his mind. _What if he did like her?_ _Then what?_

The contemplation of such an idea had him opening his eyes and letting out a scoff. What a pointless thought.

 _So what if he liked her._ None of it mattered if she didn't like him back. Why else would she pass around notes to other boys in class? _Because she liked them, not him._ Why else would she have suggested they just pretend to kiss instead of actually kiss? _Because she didn't want to kiss him._ _No_ , she would rather kiss that other stupid faced _other_ friend than him. _Gaara,_ Sasuke thought mockenly, _what a stupid name._ And he probably wasn't even good looking. _Probably some freak without eyebrows or something._

It was petty but it made him feel better. And with that happy thought, a fact came to his mind that made him feel better than any loser that may cross Sakura's mind. Because unlike _Gaara_ or any other boy, Sasuke got to see Sakura nearly every day. He didn't need her to like him, he just needed her. And with that thought in mind, he started down the stairs to the lunch room where he would get to see her.

He had just started rounding down to the stairwell when he caught sight of Sakura hurriedly making her way down the stairs.

"Sakura?"

She froze, her foot paused halfway down to the next stair. She looked around with a panicked expression then suddenly jogged down a couple steps without even acknowledging him. Then with a jerky movement she turned around as if to go back up the stairs, taking two stairs before she was retreating down again. Sasuke watched her with a confused expression and she spastically turned in circles before tripping up the stairs towards him.

"OH-Ah…Hey Sasuke, didn't see you there."

Sasuke gave her an odd look. "I called your name...you looked right at me."

"Oh really?" she said, not quite looking him in the eye. "Um...you know my contacts might have fallen out."

"Might?" His brow furrowed. She was acting...weird. "Are you okay?" he asked slowly. "Do you need your glasses? I think I might still have an old pair in my bag." He didn't think, he knew. He always kept them there in case she ever needed them.

"Um...no," she said. "I'll be fine."

He watched her for a long moment but finally nodded. "Well do you want to head down to lunch?" he said, tilting his head to try and catch her still avoiding eyes.

"Uh...no," she declined, taking a few steps towards him until she reached the landing and slinked past him, pressing herself to the middle railing as if trying to keep herself distant as much as possible. "You can go ahead I need to head up to my locker," she said as she waved him off and started heading up the stairs.

"But weren't you already headed there?"

"Yeah but I forgot my math book for next period, just go ahead without me."

"But…"

Sasuke cut himself off from pointing out that they already had math this morning and it was earth science next, when he realized she was already gone. Rubbing the back of his head he started heading down the stairwell, every once in a while he pause to look up and contemplate if he should check on her.

* * *

Sakura came to a stop when she reached the roof top and leaned against the brick wall surrounding the edge. Both of her hands came up to her reddening face. Her cheeks burned with heat as she covered her face and let out a loud groan. She was mortified, embarrassed, and felt like an idiot for the way she had just acted.

That interaction had been painfully awkward and she just knew she was not the only one who had noticed. She had seen the odd look Sasuke had given her. And she didn't know if it was because of her embarrassing act of making a fool of herself in front of him or if he knew that she had overheard his conversation with the girl just a few seconds earlier. Or what if it was both?

Another groan left her as she thought about both possibilities. She hoped it was the first and not the latter. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but when her name came up she couldn't help but linger in the stairwell just below and out of sight.

Sakura was no stranger to being a witness to some unfortunate soul who had caught a bad case of the Sasuke-fluenza. It caused them to become delirious with hormones and catch a fever of infatuation that drove them to confess their feelings.

She had seen them come in all shapes and forms. But no matter how they came, they all ended the same way, a harsh and heartbreaking rejection. However, there was something different about this rejection. It didn't seem like another rejected stranger or vaguely familiar girl. It felt personal. As if she herself was being rejected. Because in a way, it was.

And it had hurt.

She had always admired Sasuke. Throughout the years, depending on the point in time, that admiration had been merited for different reasons. When she had first met him, she admired him because of how attentive he was to her...and he gave her fruit snacks. As they grew older, there were times when she admired him because of protectiveness, his loyalty, his sometimes too honest honesty, his dedication, and his motivated ambition. But most recently, she had found herself admiring him for the very same and shallow reason every other girl admired him: his looks. However that admiration seemed to be holding a different meaning lately.

It had started she supposed, in about fifth grade, when every other girl seemed to notice as well. However when she noticed how annoyed Sasuke was by this, she had never dared tell anyone, least he found out. Only one other soul had ever known and that was Ino. She had caught her writing her name with his last name in a sparkly notebook to see what it would look like. They had gotten into a fight which had been the fight that had caused their friendship to fall apart up until year seven when Ino apologized and helped her. But to this day Sakura had still yet to tell another soul. And she had never before planned or even dreamed of doing so.

She had stood by and watched girl after girl bake him cakes, give him chocolates, write him love letters, and confess in person to him. Each time she witnessed it, she dreaded the day when he would eventually accept one of those girls' feelings. She loved and hated the relief she had felt when he sent them off running and crying each time. She felt for the girls as she herself knew what it was like to admire someone so much that you wanted to shout it from the rooftops. But unlike those brave girls who ended up getting burned and their hearts smashed, she remained silent and kept her feelings confined.

For two reasons she did this. The first being that she was a coward and scared of the hurt that would come with rejection. Sure she was miserable in her hiding and keeping her feelings on the sidelines, while practically forever being in his presence. But that was what brought her to her second reason. Their friendship. She cherished it and she knew Sasuke would hate her forever if she ever ruined what they had between them. Because Sasuke valued his friendship with the few people he allowed in his life more than sometimes even his family. If anything, he would see her confession as an act of betrayal to that friendship. He would never speak to her again for such a crime.

It was for those reasons she had been determined to wait it out. She figured if she ignored her feelings long enough, eventually they would go away or she could direct them towards someone else who would be more likely to accept her feelings. She had only been hoping it would happen before Sasuke finally accepted someone else.

But things changed a few weeks ago at Ino's party. The party in which she was locked in a closet with him, where they had kissed. Or to make it more accurate, where _he_ had kissed her. It had been as if her feelings for him were doubled then tripled and there was no more space within her heart to contain it anymore.

She thought long and hard about it and had decided she was going to confess to him. In fact she had just been on her way to ask if they could walk home together after school. She had it all planned and was going to confess to him with a bag of blue and red fruit snacks at the park where they had first met. But then she had come across the unknown girl confessing to him and heard his rejection. Not just his rejection of the other girl's confession but he even told her he did not like Sakura either. It had been a double rejection. A nonacceptance to her confession before she could even admit it.

 _She was just a friend._ A friend that Sasuke cherished and cared about, but not in the way she cherished and cared about him. She had been mistaken. The kiss was just a kiss. It had meant nothing. He had done it because Sasuke Uchiha did not back down to a challenge. It was not because he liked her. Because Sakura was just a friend and you couldn't like-like your friends.

Sliding down to the ground, Sakura tucked her arms around her legs as she brought her knees to her chest and hugged herself. Bowing her head to her knees, she let out a forlorn sigh as tears began to drip down into her lap.

She let herself cry and mourn her little broken young heart. But when her tears dried up, she managed to steadily stand on her own two feet without feeling like a pathetic frail and broken thing. And with a deep breath she started to make her way down to the cafeteria to join Sasuke and the rest of their friends at lunch.

The thought of seeing him, looking him in the eye and knowing how disgusted he would be with her feelings, made her feel weak all over again. But the thought of not having Sasuke at her side was even worse. So she made a promise to herself that she would not let this pain change her friendship with him. She was strong. Yes it hurt and yes things would be tender for a while, but now, Sakura knew why others confessed their feelings even when they knew they would be rejected. Because while it hurts, it doesn't kill. And what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before y'all start hating me just remember that sometimes a little bitterness makes the sweet things even sweeter!!! Anyways. I know this chapter is not as fluffy as usual. I tried to still make it a light and throw in some sweet things for you. They are just not quite ready to be together fully yet, they have a little more growing and developing before they are ready to start handling a full relationship. Either way I still hope you guys enjoyed this at least a little bit. 
> 
> Up Next: The Home Room Teacher: Our little ones are growing up and have started high school (grade 9). And they are not quite sure what to make of the masked man who will be their home room teacher for the next four years. 


	12. The Homeroom Teacher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am trying to be better at making this note to help with the time skips. This chapter takes place in their first year of high school/9th year. It kind of jumps around and just give little snippets so they range between 14/15 years of age.

From his first day of school when he was merely five years of age, Sasuke Uchiha cursed the phrase 'assigned seating'. And since that first kerfuffle of how he envisioned school would go, assigned seating had continued to follow him from one year to the next like the rest of his fellow class members. Year after year, he was forced to sit among the same group of people and be partnered with the same idiots for every group project. All because the teachers were lazy and instead of balancing out each group, they went down the list of last names and grouped them in that order.

By the time he was entering his first year of senior high school, he had gotten used to it. And in a stretch, one could say he accepted that this would be his life, stuck on the other side of the room from the one person he wanted to be near.

However, it seemed there was a change in the karmic winds that came with the transition from Konoha Middle Academy, to Konoha Senior Academy. A change that would shape the future so subtly, that it was impossible to distinguish this event as the catalyst that redirected his life path to, in future years, merge into another's life path that up until now, had only run parallel with his.

The class had been a buzz. The second bell indicating the start of class had rung nearly twenty minutes ago yet the expected teacher had yet to arrive or even show his face. Everyone was chattering loudly, some debating of what to do about the absence of their teacher, others taking advantage of no teacher and catching up on summertime gossip, and a few were leaned over their desks as they failed to acclimate from their summer time snoozing in to the early morning school schedule. Students sat on top of desks haphazardly, some naturally taking the position they had sat in since the start of their school days while others meandered around as they took advantage of the current freedom before they were told their assigned seats.

It was not until thirty minutes after the bell had rung that their teacher appeared at the threshold, causing the entire class to fall silent as they all took in the face of their new homeroom teacher. Only there was not much to see except for the several inches of silver hair that stuck up above the edge of the book in front of his face. With his nose in some questionable reading material for school hours, the man walked to the desk in front of the class, took a slouched position in the chair, and propped his long legs up onto the top of the desk.

There was another long silence that followed once he was settled as he turned a page then finally, shut the book with a snap and dropped it onto the table. With a lazy gaze, the teacher took in the paused chaos of his students who all looked back at him with varying degrees and mixtures of confusion and curiosity.

"Yo," he greeted with a crinkly eyed smile that no one saw as it was hidden beneath the mask on his face. He picked up a clipboard on his desk and gave it a long stare before letting out a sigh. "Everyone to the back of the class, when I call your name take a seat in your assigned seating, starting from the front left."

There was an eruption of metal chairs screeching across the tile floor, desks shifting, the rustle of backpacks and personal belongings, and the scurry of sneakers as everyone hurriedly moved to the back of the class. Sasuke settled in beside Sakura who was hugging her text book to her chest and nibbling at her thumb nail.

"Hey," he said, nudging her in the side. She was always like this on the first day of school. "It will be fine."

She gave him a warm smile and nodded, but the tension came right back when the teacher began to call names.

"Choji," Mr. Hatake called, pointing to the front desk of the first row.

Choji pushed forward, his large mass parting the crowded students as he made his way down the aisle. Sasuke let out a long sigh. _Choji Akimichi,_ of course it would be alphabetical order. Every once in a while, Sasuke had a teacher who would switch things up and randomly place students but of course Sasuke had never been lucky enough to get randomly placed next to Sakura. Most of the time it was classes that they didn't share or they ended just as far away from each other as if they had been sorted alphabetically. One fortunate time he was once two seats back in the same row but even then he had not been satisfied. It was close enough to be close, but far enough away to make in all moot. But in all his years, alphabetically was the most popular. Why he had expected something different, he wasn't sure.

"Chojuro."

A kid wearing glasses and a pair of large headphones with a bored expression stepped forward and sat next to Choji."

"Chuji."

A kid wearing a penguin backpack stepped forward and sat behind Choji, then a kid by the name of Danjo sat next him at the shared desk. This continued until the first row was filled then moved back to the front desk of the second row. Sasuke had stopped listening after the second name was called, as he knew his name would not be until the end. The curse of being an Uchiha.

He was busy staring out the window when his eyes slightly moved to look at another student who was standing next to low shelves beneath the large bay windows of the classroom. The kid was watching a bee tap against the window from outside, his transitional glasses darkened from the sunlight coming through the window as his high collared coat covered the lower half of his face. It took Sasuke a minute but then it hit him. It was Shino Aburame. He and Choji always shared a desk...yet he hadn't even been called yet.

_Was he in the wrong class? Did the teacher accidentally skip him?_

Sasuke's head whipped back to the students seated and began to name them all off. Choji Akakmichi, Chojuro Furuta, Chuji Doi, Danjo Yasuda….they were all out of order. Were they not being seated alphabetically? Was it actually random?

The smallest of hopes sparked within him, half the class was already seated and Sakura was still standing next to him. He looked at her and then he looked around him, taking note of those who were left. Shino, Shikamaru, Rinji, Sato, Sora, Tanzo...and again he was hit with a realization and he went down the line of already seated students. Choji, Chojuro, Chuji, Danjo…

When the idea popped into his head he dared not believe it. He couldn't believe it. But even so, his mind quietly voiced it and his heart anxiously hoped for it. The teacher was seating them alphabetically...but by first name.

"Sakura."

Sasuke watched as he moved forward and took a seat behind Sajin. Sasuke's heart began to beat furiously. _It was happening. There was no one else between hers and his name. Not only would he be near her, but he would be sharing the same desk, he was positiv_ 一

"Sato." Sasuke's heart plummeted as something beneath his skin began to bubble up. His eyes first went to the teacher in disbelief then to the girl standing a few feet away from him. He glared at her with venomous accusation as she took a step forward and faltered when she noticed him looking at her. "Wait一 No, I skipped too far," he heard the teacher correct. "Not Sato...Sasuke."

Sasuke's head whipped around as he stared at the teacher.

"Sasuke Uchiha?" The teacher repeated looking around at the group. "Is Sasuke here?" His searching eyes fell onto Sasuke, a scar marked across one of his penetrating eyes as he took Sasuke in. "You," he said nodding to Sasuke. "You look like an Uchiha...are you Sasuke." All Sasuke could do was nod. "Well then, take a seat next to Miss Haruno...Unless you have an issue sitting next to her and I need to make otherㅡ"

"No!" Sasuke all but shouted, causing a quizzical intrigue to come to the teachers face. Sasuke cleared his throat. "I have no problem with the seating arrangement."

"Well then take a seat Mr. Uchiha."

It felt like a dream. A wonderful dream where he was floating along clouds instead of walking on the tiled floor of the room. But as dream-like as it was, it was real. He was really walking towards her and sitting down in the chair at their shared table. Sakura gave him a large smile and it was then that Sasuke decided, no matter how difficult the teacher ran his class, no matter how late he was, no matter what grade Sasuke received, it would be all worth it so long as this arrangement remained.

"Right," the teacher began, standing from his chair once everyone was seated and coming around to the front of the class to lean on the podium. "My name is Kakashi Hatake, I teach literature and writing in this school but for this group, I will also be your homeroom teacher for the next four years. Any questions?"

There was only silence as the class continued to stare, thousands of questions were building in their minds but none of them were willing to voice them. Why was he late? Where did he get his scar? How old was he to already have silvered hair? Why was he wearing a mask? What was beneath his mask?

The unspoken questions were endless and the teacher took their silence as an affirmation that they were ready. "Excellent. Let us begin." Reaching for a stack of papers, he walked to the front row and started handing out papers to be passed back. "We will begin with a test."

There was a congregational groan from the class, each student moaning out their dismay. At least all except for one.

Sasuke sat at his desk, his body suddenly feeling like an electric current was running through him as Sakura's arm brushed against his had she shifted to dig into her bag for a pencil. The contact giving him an energy and jitteriness that left him unconcerned about tests.

* * *

There were a lot of things about the home room teacher that made his students unsure of what to make of him. Be it the mystery of what lay behind the mask that covered the majority of his face at all times, his lack of punctuality, the unconventional lessons, the questionable literature in which he had more interest in than his students, or the laid back, almost lazy approach in his teaching.

Yet despite all these flaws and concerns of his students, he somehow earned their respect and managed to get his students learned enough in the subject, that their minds were molded by the curriculum and filled with knowledge. For while he may have been laid back and lazy, he was hard on his students, challenging them to do what was impossible in their eyes yet somehow getting them to accomplish such difficult feats. Between the tests and quizzes that were nearly impossible, and assignments that never seemed to be done fully satisfactory, he taught his students to work hard, work together, and as a class, they developed a driving effort to excel not only in the subject, but in their lives as well.

Kakashi Hatake was an ex-special ops ranger who had been released from active duty, to deal with some PTSD due to a particularly traumatic mission where he lost a comrade. After a few dark years, he was able to recover enough to function. His therapist told him he should do something constructive and his friend told him to earn a degree. He had chosen teaching because the idea of having several months off during the year for breaks sounded perfect. However, he had not realized a couple important things when considering a teaching degree.

The first being that he didn't like kids. It wasn't that he hated them, he just didn't understand them. And now, he spent his entire work day surrounded by them. He had grown up faster than most so he had a difficult time relating to them and their antics often wore him down. So he had chosen to teach high school thinking that there would at least be less crying, complaining, and more independence. But he had been severely wrong.

While certainly no longer crying over scraped knees, complaining about not getting the right color crayon, and needing an adult to do sometimes the simplest of tasks, teenagers were no different than young children. The only difference was instead of crying over scraped knees they were crying over broken hearts of week long relationships and severed friendships. Instead of complaining about the color of crayons, they complained about the length of their papers and reading assignments. And while they no longer needed to hold a hand walk down the hall, they still depended heavily on their teachers for guidance as to what to do with their lives and function as the soon to be adults they were becoming.

The second thing he had not considered when becoming a teacher was that he had no regard for time. And now, his entire day was based off of a structured and rigid schedule. However even after over a decade of teaching he still had no regard for the layout of his day. He was positive the only reason why he hadn't been fired yet was because the high scores his students accomplished each year for exams as well as his, what some would call a friendship with the schools headmaster.

But despite these reasons, and the many other reasons why he was not traditionally suited for the job, Kakashi Hatake had found himself attached to his work in a strange and obscure way. While he enjoyed the breaks, each time he found himself eagerly awaiting the start of a new term. In a way you could almost say that despite his lack of enthusiasm for being around youth and coworkers who obviously enjoyed their positions far more than him, as the time went on and the years passed by, he had found some of his traumatic wounds slowly healed as he developed a grateful appreciation for his work.

Though he would never dare admit that to his coworkers. If the school faculty actually knew he enjoyed his job, they might actually expect him to put effort and excitement into his teaching. And he would be damned if he would start dressing professionally like Iruka of the civics department or energetically teaching with gusto like Guy of the athletics department. The two most dedicated teachers of the entire school.

* * *

Despite the many dislikes and oddities of Kakashi Hatake, as well as his determination to seem as impartial and reclusive as he could. There was one thing that Kakashi had a weakness for, one thing that made him break down, show interest, and even possibly interfere.

And that weakness was...he was a sucker for a good romance drama.

And Kakashi had a gift for sniffing out a budding romance between individuals and spotting every sign of sexual tension. He liked to think he had a sixth sense for seeing the red strings that connect others but it was more or less due to the fact that he had his nose nearly constantly shoved into romance novella and he was desperate to see them played out in real life. As a result, he had become obsessed with the art of "shipbuilding", or as he preferred the more sophisticated and professional term, "naval engineering".

And when there was the potential of such a romance, one that seemed practically derived from one of his many romantic novella, Kakashi could not help but do everything in his power to make sure that ship sailed. Because while he was a teacher at the intellectual level, he was a professional matchmaker at heart. And it just so happened that he found such a pairing between two students that were so bluntly ignorant of the others affections, he was tempted to fail them in his class for being so densely ignorant of their feelings. Unfortunately he was only allowed to grade them on their literature skills, not their romances.

* * *

It all started the first day of class when he assigned them to sit together at their shared desk located in the fifth row, third desk back, and he had seen the reaction of the Uchiha boy. The moment the boy had so eagerly and quickly refuted the idea of having a different setting arrangement, Kakashi's radar for detecting such potential vessels of romance had gone off. Had Sasuke been any other boy, Kakashi might have dismissed it. But his closest friend just happened to be Obito Uchiha and while the man was certainly not the standard specimen of the traditional Uchiha, Kakashi was familiar enough with the Uchiha family and their stoic genes to know instantly that something was off.

Several years ago Sasuke's older brother had also been a student in his class and he knew this certain branch in the family tree was certainly one of the more stoic and suppressed of the bunch. Yet he had caught something in Sasuke's face, something strong enough and powerful enough, that it broke through the hard exterior learned and perfected from a young age.

It was then that he began to pay closer attention to the pink haired girl that he quickly familiarized himself with as Sakura Haruno. And it was her he surmised was the reason for the odd behavior. Ever since that conclusion, Kakashi could not help but note and observe their interactions as he began to form a theory as to why an Uchiha would act as such...

* * *

It did not take long into the school year for Kakashi to note that Sasuke was not for want of fangirls. They were everywhere that he was. They flanked him in the halls, cornered him for confessions, and found any and every excuse to talk to him, some even daring enough to find reasons to make physical contact. A touch of the hand, a brush of a shoulder, or plucking imaginary items that had gotten caught in his spiky hair. However each gesture was quickly swatted away as he dealt them out a cold look of distaste. It was obvious to Kakashi that no one was allowed to touch or get too close to him. However, like many things in life, there was one exception. And that exception came in the form of a dainty pink haired desk mate.

He had given his students a free day to work on assignments and homework under the guise that they were ahead in their curriculum. Because it had nothing to do with the fact that the newest addition to his favorite Icha Icha series had just been released and he was currently taking this time of not needing to teach to read his pre ordered copy of the book.

As he was finishing his chapter, he peeked over the top of his book to check on his students. Most of them were quietly talking amongst their neighbors while a few were actually working on homework and a handful were laid out on their desks fast asleep. As usual, Sakura among the few who were studiously bent over her school work. Next to her, Sasuke leaned over his desk with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over his head as it rested on his arms. Kakashi watched as Sasuke shifted and crossed over onto Sakura's side of the desk, making her pause in her school work.

Sakura frowned at her friend's invasiveness. Letting out a sigh, she gave his slumbering form a shove. It was the third time now and she was beginning to think he was doing it on purpose.

Sasuke shifted, turning his head to face her as he cracked his eyes open. "What?" he intoned groggily.

"You keep coming over onto my side of the desk," Sakura complained.

Sasuke shut his eyes. "Hn," he grunted unapologetically, making no move to rectify his trespassing.

Sakura gave him a disapproving look before taking a hold of his hoodie and pulling it away from his head. "And you shouldn't be sleeping, you should be working on your homework."

Sasuke's dark eyes snapped open and gave her a look that at first seemed to be annoyed, but the moment she looked down to her paper, his face softened to a mild affection as he stared up at her. This look was lost to everyone else but the sharp eyes of their teacher who had forgotten about his book altogether as he continued to watch his two students.

Sakura was nearly finished with the math equation she was working on when a heavy feeling settled over her. When she wrote down her answer, she looked up and found Sasuke's dark eyes looking up at her. Immediately she felt her face warm and she quickly leaned forward and let her hair fall down to curtain her face.

Ever since she had been indirectly rejected by Sasuke, she had done her best to not let her imagination or emotions run away from her. She took a page from the Uchiha book of genetics and suppressed them. However, when he looked at her with expressions of such intense fixation, it made it very difficult to ignore those feelings. Determinedly she focused on the next question, mentally reading out the equation as she tried to ignore the accelerated pitter patter of her heart.

Suddenly her shroud of protective hair was pushed aside as Sasuke moved her hair. From the corner of her eye she watched as he held a chunk of her hair in his hand. He rubbed it in between his fingers, testing out the texture and causing her to feel a tug at her roots. Which resulted in a tingling sensation that spread down her spine. In an effort to cover up the shiver that ran through her body, she quickly extracted her hair from his fingers by moving it to hang over her other shoulder and out of his reach.

"Stop that," she chastised, "it's distracting."

A smoldering smirk came to his face at that. "So I distract you do I?" he asked in a teasing tone that bordered on flirtation.

She hated this tone, it did things to her insides that made her feel like instead of sturdy bones, she had jello and instead of digestive enzymes, her stomach was full of a flutter of butterflies. The increasing use of that tone was not doing her any favors in her crusade to rid herself of any romantic feelings for her friend.

Doing her best to compose herself, she turned her head and gave him a stern look. "Yes, you do."

His dark eyes shined with a luster of polished obsidian. "And what about me is it that distracts you?"

 _Everything,_ her rebellious mind answered. However she silenced that voice before it could take over and cause her body to actually voice it. Quickly, her eyes moved up to his spiky mess of hair. "This," she said, reaching up and giving one of his spikes a soft tug. "Did you even bother to try and comb this mess?"

He propped his head up, leaning in towards her and giving her a smirk. "Well if I did that, even you wouldn't be able to resist my charms." He finished his statement by giving her an uncharacteristic wink.

Sakura hated the jitter such a gesture caused and she frowned, rolling her eyes in an attempt to cover any signs of what such actions really did to her. "Please," she said sarcastically, running a hand over the top of his head. "If you're trying to get me to admit I find you attractive you can forget it, you already have too much ego."

Sasuke did everything he could to suppress the near purr that almost escaped him from her touch. Last year when they kissed, it was like getting a taste of the most delectable thing he could imagine. Now, in more recent times, he had found himself growing hungry for another taste. And he was worried that soon it would be a craving that someday would drive him insane and do something stupid. For the most part he restrained himself, but there were moments like these, little instances of weakness in which he could not ignore.

Her fingers combed over his head, threading through his hair as her nails gently scraped against his scalp. From an outsider it would have been seen as an innocent gesture that maybe bordered on a flare of flirtation. But to him, even the most simple of things felt intimate.

"Failure to admission is just as incriminating, Sakura."

His words had her withdrawing her hand all too soon as Sakura went back to her school work. He knew he shouldn't indulge his hunger by asking for more, he knew it would only make things worse. But he couldn't resist. Reaching up to his head, he mussed up his hair, immediately earning her attention again.

"Sasuke!" she protested, quickly running her fingers over his hair again. A look that indicated he was pleased with himself appeared as she fused over him and she paused. "You know what," she began, "Forget it, if you want to look like the next duck butt leader of F4 then be my guest," she snapped, ruffling up his hair before turning back to her school work.

Sasuke smirked in her direction before settling back down on their desk with his head propped on his arms. He was so far over that he was again encroaching on her side of the desk. It was almost purposeful as her hand brushed up against him each time she turned the page of her work book.

All the while, Kakashi caught every moment of this small exchange from over the top of his book. Behind his mask, his lips smiled. Everything about it was so juvenile. But it was so innocently sweet that it made him as giddy as any school girl watching a drama series.

* * *

Kakashi had just finished passing out their latest test results when the bell rang loudly throughout the hallways of the academy, announcing the end of class and dismissing students for a short break period. Most students escaped the room in masses the moment the bell chimed, leaving a few stragglers behind to meander out at their own pace. One particular person seemed to be taking an unusually long time zipping up his bag as his desk mate finished writing down her notes from class before adding the assignment to her calendar.

"You don't have to wait for me, Sasuke," she said, pausing mid note to look up at him.

Sasuke cleared his throat and quickly unzipped his bag. "I'm not, I just forgot to write down the assignment," he hedged as he pulled out a notebook and pen.

From behind the steamy pages of his book, Kakashi subtly peeked over his reading material to watch the two students interacting. Sasuke was digging around in his bag, his face looking nonchalant as Sakura shrugged her shoulders and went back to finishing her notes. Kakashi watched as Sasuke's pen unproductively hovered over his notebook as he watched Sakura from the corner of his eye. The moment Sakura finished writing and started putting her things away, Sasuke flipped his notebook shut with the page still blank and haphazardly threw his things into his bag as he sprung to his feet, zipping his backpack and grabbing his test from his desk as he followed Sakura towards the front of the class.

As they walked down their row and started for the door together, Kakashi silently watched as Sasuke looked out into the busy hallway and quickly grabbed onto Sakura, halting her from progressing towards the busy hall.

"What are you doing after school?" he asked when she gave him a quizzical look.

"I don't know," she said with a shrug. "Nothing I guess, why did you have something in mind?"

Sasuke looked down at his feet and Kakashi noticed as his hair fell forward the tips of his reddening ears and neck became visible. Sasuke looked back up at Sakura, his face surprisingly well composed despite the obvious jitteriness.

"Let's go grab some food at that new tempura shop a couple of blocks from here," he suggested.

"Okay, but you know Naruto's going to throw a fit if we don't go to Ichiraku's so we might as well just plan toㅡ"

"I don't want to invite him," Sasuke quickly cut in.

Sakura gave him a baffled look. "Why?" she asked. Suddenly a look of exasperation came to her face and she planted a hand on her hip. "Don't tell me you guys are fighting again? Honestly, you're worse than if a drama queen and primadonna were best friends," she bemoaned.

"We're not fighting," Sasuke assured. "I just don't want him to come, I just want it to be the two of us."

"Why?"

From behind his book, Kakashi felt like he could practically hear Sasuke's eye roll. Nosily he peeked out from his book only to feign turning a page when Sasuke gave him a hesitant look and glanced back at Sakura. The words on the book page began to blur as Kakashi stared unfocused at the words as he strained to listen in to the conversation, he heard Sasuke's feet squeak against the tiled floor with an obvious step of nervous unease.

"Well...um...I was thinking that maybe..." Kakashi chanced a glance over his book just in time to catch Sasuke rub the back of his neck and ruffle his already unruly spikes of hair. His eyes were darting everyone but at Sakura who was intently looking at Sasuke with a perplexed expression.

"Yes..." Sakura prodded.

"I was thinking you could tutor me," Sasuke quickly blurted lamely. He looked down at his test in his hand that he forgot to put back in his bag in his haste to follow Sakura. "I did really bad on the last chapter and was hoping you could help me."

Sakura gave him a scrutinizing look. "Really?" He nodded in confirmation which only caused her to raise a skeptical brow. "Let me see," she demanded, reaching for his test.

"No!" he protested, holding it high and out of her reach. She let out a vocal protest as she jumped up and down in an attempt to snatch the paper from his hands. Sasuke only held it higher in response as a look of amusement washed over his face. "I can't let you see it," he said when she stopped her hoping and planted her hands on her hips to pout up at him. "It's too embarrassing."

"Since when do you get embarrassed?"

"Just help me after school and promise you won't say anything to Naruto," he said, ignoring her question. "And the food is on me."

The moment the offer of free food was made, Sakura seemed to no longer be concerned with the why of it all. "Fine!" she said, turning towards the door and making her way to the hall. Just before exiting into the busy stream of students she turned back to him. "But next time you need help with school, try asking before the test, not after."

Sasuke grinned at her before she rolled her eyes and disappeared. For a moment Sasuke lingered in the classroom as he savored the happy warmth of his successful accomplishment.

"You know it's easier to arrange a date without a third wheel if she knows it's an actual date and not a study group."

Kakashi watched from over his book as Sasuke, who had seemed to forget he was still sitting at his desk until he had spoken up, turned his head. The dark haired boy gave him a look not usually presented to teachers.

"It's not a date," he quickly corrected, although the tinge of pink in his pale skin seemed to counter such claims. "I just need some help understanding some of the material. If I fail my parents will ground me. And if Naruto came he would just be loud and we wouldn't get anything done."

Sasuke raised a brow. "Well then by all means, study away," Kakashi said in dismissal as he went back to his book. He heard Sasuke start to walk towards the door before speaking again. "By the way, I didn't realize 98 percent was a failing grade, then again you Uchiha's always did hold yourselves to higher standards."

He couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he listened to Sasuke stomp away. But as the hallway began to settle and become quiet as the students went outside to enjoy the last bits of temperate weather before the cold winter temperatures set in, Kakashi found himself snapping his book shut and thinking to himself.

While thus far the budding drama of a romance between his two was entertaining, Kakashi felt that if things continued like this it would soon become stagnant. And while Kakashi certainly was in for a lengthy drama playing out through the next several years while the pair remained his students, he was worried that the relationship might not ever be forged. It truly would be a tragic marring of an ode to star-crossed romances.

* * *

"O, Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet."

"Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?" Sasuke read in a monotone voice that was drier than the Sahara.

Kakashi all but let out an agonizing groan as he watched the work of one of the greats being disgracefully represented as the dark haired boy, who had been voted into the lead role by unanimous numbers of the female population, unenthusiastically spoke his lines. Not only did his voice lack vivation, but he looked at the twitter pated looking girl with the same passion as he would an eraser.

"Stop, stop, stop," Kakashi interjected before either of them could continue with the scene. He stood from his desk in the corner, his eyes glaring accusingly at Sasuke. "Sasuke, I need more passion from you. Try it again."

Sasuke tilted his head up towards the ceiling letting out an exasperated sigh. This was literature, not drama class, why did it matter how he said the lines. Having already "tried it again" five times with the same lines, Sasuke was done.

Sasuke pulled the renaissance hat, fluffy black feather and all, from his head and looked at his teacher. "Can't you just choose someone else to be Romeo?" Sasuke said. "I obviously lack the ability to meet your criteria."

"Oh me! Me!" shouted Lee. "I will do it. I can give you passion!" He ceased his eager bouncing and waving his hand in the air as he struck a dramatic pose.

The girl playing Juliet looked horror struck, "Mr. Hatake you can't just take Sasuke from the role, he was voted fair and square!" she said quickly as she latched herself onto Sasuke, who immediately pulled himself free of her clutches.

"It's only unfair if I wasn't volunteering!" Sasuke quickly rationalized. "Really, I don't care."

Kakashi looked thoughtful for a moment and stood up. As he walked past a still posing Lee, he told him to take a seat, not bothering to look at the dejected student as he narrowed his eyes at his dark haired lead role.

Kakashi had taught enough Uchiha's to know that failure to accomplish was not for lack of skill when it came to the family. If driven enough to put their minds to it, they could achieve any of their dreams, whatever the feat or consequences. If an Uchiha wanted it, they would have it.

Some would argue this was an erroneous assumption but he had yet to see any proof say otherwise. As his teacher, Kakashi knew that Sasuke was not stupid, neither was he incompetent. His grades were good and he made high scores on the exams. Like his brother, he was naturally talented. But unlike his brother, Sasuke was lazy. Because things came easy to him he half assed most of his work then made up for it in the exams that contributed mostly to his grades.

Normally Kakashi would not hold such things against such a student as he himself had been the same in his school years. However, Kakashi did have an issue when Sasuke's half assed efforts reflected on other priorities of the more romantic nature. Over the course of the school year, Kakashi had watched and observed this boy try and fail to woo the girl he sat next to with primary school level tactics of flirting and failed attempts of dates cloaked as study sessions. Had it been anyone else he would not have cared but this case was special. From the first day of this year he had been watching their interactions, following the gossip of his young pupils, and even resorted to inquiring of his friend Obito of the relationship. Obito had given him so many juicy details of their interactions that he could hardly read his novels which seemed dimmed by the live action drama taking place in his classroom.

Kakashi Hatake had become too invested in the teenage romance between his two students that he would be damned if he would allow his student to sabotage the fated romance with laziness. Between the broody dark haired boy and the colorful blossom of a girl, there was certainly plenty of heat between the two, however in order for the relationship to be forged strongly, they needed some applied force in order to mold together. Therefore, Kakashi had no choice but to nudge them together, because he was a sucker for literary romance and this story was going to be right there with the greats.

"You are right Mr. Uchiha, it is perfectly fair so long as your volunteering to give up the role-" Sasuke let out a sigh and started making for the desks that had been pushed back to clear a stage at the front of the classroom- "However," Kakashi continued, causing Sasuke to freeze halfway off their makeshift stage. "As your teacher, it is unfair for me to let you give up so easily. If I let you all just give up after struggling I would be the failure.

"Therefore I cannot let you do that. You can do it...you just need..." His slate eyes roved across the room and landed on his pink haired Mecrutio who was sporting a fake mustache. His lips curled wickedly behind his mask. "...the right partner," he finished.

"Sakura," he called, causing Sakura to sit up straight at her desk. "Come here," he instructed, waving her up. "Miss Nanami, please take a seat, Sasuke you stay where you are," he warned when the boy made a move to leave too.

"Mr. Hatake?" Sakura inquired when she reached the front of the class looking nervous when she caught the odd glint in her even odder teacher's eyes. He handed her a new script and she looked down at it. "These don't have any of Mecrutio's lines!" she panicked.

"That's because you will be playing Juliet, Miss. Haruno," Kakashi said, steering her in front of Sasuke. "Seems Mr. Uchiha is not comfortable opening up with Miss Nanami so we are going to give him a little more of a familiar face. Since your ' _deskmates',_ he should be perfectly relaxed around you after a year of sitting next to you, you two seem plenty chatty during break times."

Sasuke looked nearly horrified as Sakura was left standing hardly inches away from him and Kakashi returned to his desk where he could better direct the play. "All right, Sasuke, start from the top. I want you to deliver Romeo's first monologue with passion. Let's hear what he is feeling in your voice, show us the passion!"

"Hn."

Sasuke's hum of lacking commitment caused his teacher to turn around abruptly and give his student a warning look. "Oh, and one more thing Mr. Uchiha, your performance will reflect as a shared marking, so please take this seriously, for Miss Haruno's sake."

It was perhaps cruel and unfair, but Kakashi knew he needed to motivate his student and judging by the terrified look on the girl's face as her grade was put on the chopping block, he knew the Uchiha would step up and save the damsel in distress. If not, he deserved losing the poor girl's dedication. Then maybe she would stop looking at her deskmate with those large eyes and longing looks that pulled at Kakashi's heart string every time he looked up at his classroom. It was agonizing to watch.

"Mr. Uchiha," Kakashi prodded, "whenever you're ready."

Sasuke gave his teacher a sour look who responded with an expectant raised brow. Gritting his teeth Sasuke looked back to Sakura who was not looking like the confident young woman she had developed into. She looked practically terrified at the thought of her grade possibly being in jeopardy. Even if Kakashi failed them in this assignment there was no way it would affect her grade by that much of a degree. Unfortunately that was not how Sakura worked. For her, grades were everything as her future relied heavily upon it for scholarships. And Sasuke would never let such a thing be effected. Sakura's future was bright and promising, there was no way he would allow himself to darken it or hold her back.

Closing his eyes for a moment, he reached deep inside of him. Down to the depths of the deepest darkest parts of him where he habitually shoved every emotion and feeling. It was like picking up rocks from a bed of water, if not done carefully enough, one could possibly cause the settled silt and particles to muddy the waters and make things unclear. Carefully, he grasped onto the pieces he needed to spur him with as much ease as he could. If he disrupted the wrong sediments of emotions or grabbed too much at one time, he could find the waters of his life unclear and murky. Dangerous emotions could float up and taint the cool control he worked endlessly to keep reigned in and there was no telling what the result would be.

Opening his eyes, he looked at the wide eyes of Sakura, whose expression had morphed. He took her in and focused solely on her with a gaze of intensity that seemed to lock them into place, not allowing either of them to look away from the other as the rest of the room became a blur. Soon it was as if they were the only two standing there and they had been transported to a place far away from any other soul to witness their exchange. Gently, he released the emotions he had gathered and let them flow through his blood. Allowing them to take over and letting them lead and prompt his actions as he began his lines.

"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun...

Three years ago Itachi had to memorize the very same monologue for school and Sasuke had heard him recite it so many times, he had found he had not needed to look at his script at all. Which allowed him to put all focus into Sakura and Sakura alone, which fueled his feeling to come through his voice as he let them come to the surface as he gazed back into her vividly bright eyes and took in the shapes of her face with admiration. Even the ridiculous mustache she still wore from her role as Mecrutio that sat above her parted lips could not distract him from the fact that in this moment, she was stunning.

"...That I might touch that cheek!"

As he finished the last line of the monologue, the classroom was left in a stunned silence. Sasuke was still staring deeply into Sakura's face, his hand at one point having lifted to gently cup her cheek as his feet had brought him even closer to her as his free hand gently held onto the tips of her fingers in a gesture of intimacy that seemed to overshadow if he had just fully held her hand. Sakura stared up at him with an enraptured attentiveness that one would think she had been watching the scene being delivered by Shakespeare's very own original performers. She too had not looked away from Sasuke's intense eyes as her mouth parted slightly in an awed expression, a rosy glow having come to her cheeks and making her look very much like a young maiden worth such poetry to be composed from.

The spell was broken as the audible and sharp sound of a clap echoed loudly into the air. Sasuke blinked and suddenly became aware of the situation. Quickly, he let his hand drop down as he took a step away from Sakura who was still staring at him with an awed expression. Another sharp clap had him looking over her head to where Kakashi was slowly standing as the pace of his slow clap increased, along with being accompanied by several others of the class who seemed to slowly awaken from his transfixing performance and show their support.

The applause died down as Kakashi reached them. "Very good Uchiha, I knew you could do it, you just needed to channel some inner feelings. Mind sharing what inspired you so well?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he watched his teacher's head subtly nod towards Sakura, who was dazedly standing next to him. Sasuke folded his arms in front of his chest and gave his teacher a impassive look. "I'm just a really good actor," he replied coolly.

Kakashi raised a brow then let out a dismissive huff. "Well then, I hope to see you in the school drama club's next production. I would hate for your talent to go to waste...Until then congratulations, you both get an A on the assignment," he nodded his head towards their shared desk, dismissing them to take their seats as he moved back to stand at his teachers podium.

Pulling out a textbook, he turned open the book. "Every one open up to page 245. Let's move onto our next section of study, Homer. I think it's time we learn about something called bravery," Kakashi said, his slate eyes moving up to Sasuke in challenge, who leaned forward himself, his own obsidian eyes meeting the challenge.

From behind his mask, Kakashi could not help but grin mirthfully. If this teenage boy thought he was going to sink his own ship he was wrong. Kakashi would see to it personally that would not happen. Be it they spend the rest of their school year studying the great romances of literature or making every single homework assignment a group project with assigned partners, it would be done. One day, Kakashi would see to it that, by the time his students were graduating, Sasuke Uchiha would finally admit his feelings to the girl sitting right beside him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure how I feel about this chapter. It was a hot mess for the past month and then finally the other day I was struck with a better format and order of events but still feel its a little messy. Hopefully that is just me being critical and it all flowed well and you all liked it. Love to hear your thoughts as always, thank you to those who shared in the past updates! 
> 
> Take care of yourselves, remember to be kind to others and keep being excellent!!!
> 
> Next Up: The Summer the Sakura Blossomed: It's the end of summer before their junior year. Sakura has been gone to visit her aunt. Over the ears she has slowly budded and grown. But when she comes back she has bloomed into a fully blossomed young woman and more than just a few will notice. (Most likely will be really short but its a set up for the following chapter.)


	13. The Summer the Sakura Blossomed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our group of teens have finished their second year in high school and it is the summer before their junior year. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto are all 16 years old in this chapter.

The summer had been unusually hotter than most years. Normally their long break from school would be spent actively taking the bus or train to some nearby place and doing whatever or exploring wherever Sakura had planned for them that day. She was usually the motivator of the trio, the one who pushed them to do things in which the two boys begrudgingly agreed. Naruto usually complied because he would be promised Ramen, and Sasuke tolerated the crowded tourist attractions because...well…Sakura was there. And he needed to watch over her. At least that was how he rationalized it.

But this summer Sakura had gone to visit relatives in her family's original hometown, leaving the two boys in charge to entertain themselves and keep each other company. With Sakura not there to drag them around, Naruto and Sasuke occupied themselves with playing video games in a controlled environment of cool A/C that had close access to a freezer and fridge of cold beverages and plenty of popsicles. However, after weeks of logging numerous hours in sitting on a couch playing games, with only each other as company-and no Sakura to act as a buffer-, it was only a matter of time before their mothers had grown tired of listening to the constant bickering and cleaning up after them. Thus the two teenagers found themselves banned from gaming and told to do something productive outside. With the heat nearly unbearable, they found themselves camped out in the Uchiha's backyard pool, where their phones could still at least reach the WIFI of the house and the heat could be tolerable.

The floaty Sasuke was sprawled on bobbed and shifted in the pool as he lay with his hands behind his head and a pair of dark sunglasses covering his face as it angled towards the sky. His feet hung over the edge and lazily hung in the water in an attempt to keep himself cool as the heat from the midday sun beat down on them. Next to him, Naruto impatiently shifted on his own inner tub. Each time, wildly splashing and causing a loud ruckus of sloshing water as he moved around on his raft that was shaped like a ramen bowl.

"Dobe," Sasuke mumbled in sleepy annoyance when his blonde friend's shifting caused a raining of water droplets to fall on his heated skin. "Stop moving around so much. You keep splashing me."

Naruto let out an exaggerated sigh of boredom. "I'm just trying to get comfortable, we've been laying around here for hours," he defended. "I'm bored! And why do I have to be careful! We are in a pool! You're supposed to get wet."

"Hn. My house, my rules," Sasuke retorted, not bothering to open his eyes. "If you don't like them then leave."

"Well maybe I will!" Naruto threatened but didn't make a move to leave. When Sasuke himself did not respond, Naruto let out a huff and settled back down on his floaty, the rubber plastic letting out a wet squeak as shifted around. "When does Sakura come back? Ever since she left for the summer you've been a super asshole!"

Sasuke's eyes snapped open at that and he glared at Naruto. In the next second, his arm reached out and he was flipping Naruto over. The yellow haired teen let out a wild yelp that was cut off as he disappeared under the water, bright orange board shorts and all. The water had yet to even settle when he surfaced with a loud screech.

"What was that for!?" Naruto sputtered, climbing back onto his innertube.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted. "For asking stupid questions."

It wasn't exactly the true reason but it was the answer he was sticking to. In reality, Sasuke himself had been asking the same question in his head and was almost to the point of impatient ignorance, that he was on the verge of booking himself a ticket to where she was, and asking her in person. Though by that time, such a question would be pointless because he would be dragging her back home with him if the answer was anything but an immediate departure to go home.

If an entire summer depraved of her presence was not bad enough, not only was she physically gone, but any form of communication was brief and too few. They had video chatted once at the beginning but the bandwidth where she was at was so small, that the video was nothing but a blurry frozen picture of pink hair. Along with a blurry image, the audio was so lagged their conversation mostly consisted of 'can you hear me now?' and 'are you still there?' So instead he got the occasional message or scenic picture of what she had been up to but with her being so preoccupied, it was hardly a conversation.

He heard Naruto's phone chime and the blonde paddled over to the edge of the pool. "Hey, bastard, everybody is going to that new pool park, we should go too!"

Sasuke lifted his head up and tipped his shades down to look at Naruto directly. "Why? We are already in a pool."

"Yeah, but the other pool has girls," Naruto argued. "In bathing suits," he added with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. _As if it was not already common sense to assume anyone who went to a pool wore a bathing suit._ He shoved his sunglasses back up the bridge of his nose.

There was a time when he could care less about girls. But then, back in middle school, things became a little muddled and confusing. Now that he was older and had a better handle on things, Sasuke would be a liar if he said he did not appreciate such things. However, as pretty as a girl could be or as perfect her body was, Sasuke never found himself truly tempted. Yes he recognized certain features to be appealing but he never quite understood how those features could cause someone to practically start drooling over themselves or act like a complete imbecile like his peers did in order to gain the attention of said girl. To him, there was always something missing. There was a certain failed allure that couldn't draw him in enough to pursue.

Folding his arms, he leaned his head back and gave out a nonchalant hum. "Hn, and it also has crying babies and little kids that pee in the water," he argued. "No thanks."

Naruto gave out a disgruntled complaint. "But we have been in here all day! I'm getting all pruny," he complained, looking at his hands. Suddenly an idea hit him and he was looking over to Sasuke again. "What about the arcade? We could go down there and play some games!"

"Too hot," Sasuke brushed off, just as his phone's ringtone began to play.

"Someone's calling you," Naruto informed when Sasuke made no move to check it.

"..."

"Aren't you going to answer it?"

"..."

"What if it's an emergency?" Naruto asked as he began to creep towards the edge of the pool. "Isn't that usually why people call instead of text?" He added as he nosily peeked at the lit up screen of Sasuke's phone.

"Who would call _me_ in an emergency一"

"It's Sakura," Naruto interrupted, picking up the phone as he slid his thumb across the screen. "Hey Sakura, what's up!"

Sasuke was deboarding his flotation device immediately. In his dismount, his sunglasses fell into the pool but he made no move to retrieve him as he continued over to where his phone was sitting at the side of the pool.

"Give it," Sasuke barked as he snatched the phone from Naruto's hands. "Sakura, are you there? Are you okay?" He immediately asked as he threw a jab at Naruto, who dangerously splashed wildly as he tried to dodge the punch.

" _...Yeah, I'm here? What's going on? Is Naruto okay? I hear a bunch of splashing?"_

The sound of her voice did things to his inner soul that he did not even realize, nor have the capacity, to decipher what those feelings meant. He was too buzzed with an intoxicating high that came with the fact that he was finally hearing her voice.

"Naruto's fine," he said quickly as he raised his fist again, warning Naruto of what would happen if he did not cease his howling. "We are in the pool. What's up?"

He tried to make his tone sound casual as the chaos and shock of her call seemed to settle down with the water in the pool. He leaned against the side of the shallow end, doing his best to ignore Naruto who was practically breathing down his neck to eavesdrop.

"Sakura when are you coming back!?" Naruto bellowed near his ear which caused Sasuke to put a palm to his face and shove him away. "Ouch! Sakura, he is being an asshole!"

Knowing Naruto would not let him have this conversation privately, Sasuke hit the speakerphone button and set his phone down on the stone patio surrounding the pool. The moment he set it down Sakura answered Naruto's question.

" _Actually that's why I called,"_ she answered. " _I just got back and unpacked. I meant to send you a message earlier that I would be coming home today but my phone died and my charger was packed away. I was wondering if I could come over now, I missed you guys so much!"_

Sasuke's heart skipped in his chest. "Yeah," he said all too eagerly as he confusedly rubbed at his chest, wondering why his heart rate was suddenly spastic. "I will come pick you up."

" _You don't have to,"_ Sakura protested. " _I will just change quickly and head over, are you guys still swimming or are you done? I could use a good cooling off!"_

"Yeah we are still swimming but I can just pull a shirt on and walk over there," Sasuke emphasized. "You shouldn't be walking around alone."

"Hey, I am coming too!" Naruto chimed.

" _Okay,"_ Sakura agreed.

There was a small tone in her voice that indicated how she felt about them picking her up. Sasuke was certain he could hear Sakura rolling her eyes but he didn't care how unnecessary she felt it was. It was something they always did- and he would always do- not matter how independent and secure Sakura felt.

" _How about you guys start walking and I will start making my way over once I am changed and we can meet somewhere in-between. Sound good? Okay, bye,"_ she quickly negotiated, hanging up before Sasuke could voice a protest.

Sasuke let out a groan of frustration and annoyance. He didn't like it when Sakura did this. It was not like her neighborhood was bad or dangerous, but it wasn't as secure or monitored as his. There were too many blind spots, unfamiliar cars, and alleyways between her house and his for his liking. He had already been worried about her all summer walking around in a place where he was not a quick phone call away. But at the moment he could not be too bothered by that anymore, because she was back.

Suppressing the wide grin that wanted to manifest, Sasuke braced his arms on the side of the pool and pulled himself out. "Hurry up, dobe," he called as he pulled on his shirt without even bothering to dry off. "We need to get there before she starts walking by herself."

* * *

"...and her house is right next to the sea so every morning…"

Sakura jabbered on about her summer while Naruto walked alongside her, listening and chattering right along with her about his own summer with just as much enthusiasm, filling her in with everything that had happened in her absence. While it had been his idea to come and walk her back to his house, Sasuke walked several steps behind, unusually quiet for even an Uchiha. With his hands in his pockets, he unknowingly watched the swish of Sakura's hips as she walked down the road with a lively stride. She was wearing a new skirt that Sasuke had never seen her wear before, the cut of it not her usual style as it hung off her body in a way he had never seen any article of clothing fit on her. It was as if the fabric was tailored perfectly to her shape to accentuate her best features that, until today, he had never realized existed.

They had caught her right as she was closing the front gate of the small townhouse her family lived in. Her back had been to him and to be honest, if it were not for her unique hair, he would have thought her someone else until she turned around. But even as he took in the familiar pink hair and wide green eyes, he had a hard time believing he was actually looking at Sakura. She was...different, yet not. It was like everything about her was just slightly altered enough that she looked like a whole new person.

Given the activities she was describing she had done, most of her time had been spent outside which had earned her a warm glow to her face and a healthy complexion. Her sun kissed face was now speckled with a light dusting of freckles. They accented her small nose and framed her eyes, making her irises seem richer with color and even more lively with the surrounding constellation of pigmentation. Her hair, which had been growing out little by little with small trimmings in between over the years, seemed to have missed her usual appointment that would delay the progress of her lengthening hair. That, combined with whatever was in the air and food at her aunt's house, had done something to make it grow at a much faster rate. Now it hung down to the middle of her back in smooth, silky strands that swayed as she walked.

The way the petal pink tendrils moved in a taunting allure made him want to reach out and run his fingers through it. And her hair wasn't the only thing that had done some growing as well. Her whole body itself had done some growing in all the right places, her legs had gained more defined muscle and her hips had widened, giving her a more adult-like curvature to her hips where her shape dipped at the waist then curved more. And he hated even thinking it, but her chest- which had once been relatively flat- had gained at least a cup size. He felt like a pervert for thinking such things and noticing the appeal of her backside, but the new outfit she was donning made it difficult not to notice. And as much as he hated to admit it, he could not help but be drawn to this version of Sakura more strongly than he had ever been.

And it was not just her physical appearance that had been altered. She was still the same warm and bubbly girl that had left at the beginning of summer. But like everything else about her, it had been enhanced. Her welcoming hug had felt more comforting when she had spotted them and ran up to embrace him and Naruto in turn. She emitted an aura that was inviting to anyone, but it held a confidence that told people that she was not one to be trodden over. She had turned into a person that leads by example and inspires without being in charge. Admirable and confident, beautiful and strong, that was the new Sakura.

And Sasuke didn't know what to do with himself, he did not understand what this meant. He had thought all of his uncertain confusion would end with puberty when his voice dropped but now, more than ever, he did not understand how his life would be affected by these changes. Wary of the butterfly effect that was on the verge of taking place, Sasuke hung back, taking her in as he silently tried to understand what exactly this new Sakura meant for his future. Since the first day he had ever met her, Sasuke could not think of a time he didn't want her around, but now, her presence was unnerving him. He felt self conscious and far too aware of the fact that he was wearing boardshorts, an old tee-shirt that was half damp, and his hair was possibly a little more unruly than usual as he had not bothered checking himself in the mirror after lounging in the pool all day. _Had he even brushed his teeth this morning?_

Automatically a hand came up to his tangled hair and he tried to comb it into his usual purposeful messy fashion. However when Sakura peeked behind to check on him as he followed behind her and Naruto, he quickly mussed it up, doing his best to exude cool and collected.

For a moment she studied him with a confused curiosity. But the moment he locked eyes with her, she gave him a warm smile before tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, and looking forward, a red tint coming to her cheeks. The demure look of her looking away shyly caused his stomach to lurch and churn as his heart suddenly began to pump a rush of adrenaline through his body.

Sasuke faltered for a moment, just as they turned into his driveway. _What the hell was that?_

* * *

If Sasuke thought he was being inappropriately perverse when he was walking behind her and studying her changes, then he was not sure what word would be used to describe what he felt when Sakura shed her clothes into a pile on his pool deck and unconsciously adjusted the red bikini that she wore underneath. He had always prided himself in not being like his peers, who drooled over themselves as they took in those who were physically attractive, but in this moment he was no better. He would like to say that he had the control to not let his eyes absorb every inch of her exposed and toned flesh that was revealed, but at this point, Sasuke was not so sure if he even wanted to try.

He was torn.

Torn between wanting to rip off his shirt and throw it over her so no one else could look at her, or letting her continue to let the sun highlight her features as the spray of water that rained down on her as Naruto cannon balled into the pool, dripped down her chest and abdomen, leaving her skin to glisten in the sunlight. On one hand, he got to look at her, but on the other, that meant others could too. So far Naruto seemed unphased, but Itachi was home from University for the break and his presence increased the chances of Shisui stopping by unannounced. Sure they were both older, but Sasuke was more than aware of Shisui's perverted mind. However, again, if Sakura were to cover up, then that would mean she would be covered from his prying eyes as well. And for the first time in his life, Sasuke was not so sure he _wanted_ to look away.

* * *

For not the first time in the past twenty minutes, Sakura looked up to find Sasuke staring. His dark gaze transfixed on what she struggled to believe was herself. Each time there was a concentrated look to his face as his dark eyes held a heated look that she had never seen before. It did things to her and made her feel under the heaviest of scrutiny. And there was something in that gaze that caused her insides to twist and turn with a giddiness that had her body feeling hypersensitive.

She was grateful the moment his eyes broke away from her because the intensity of his gaze was becoming more and more overwhelming. However, as he looked away and started to move to the pool side Sakura found herself becoming overwhelmed all over again, this time for a whole other reason. He made a show of looking at his phone before kicking off his sandals, and Sakura found her own eyes fixated on him, watching every move and action of his muscles.

His hands went to the hem of his shirt and lifted it up slowly. She wasn't sure if time itself had slowed or if it was just a figment of her imagination, but the action seemed to play out in slow motion. Inch by -flat toned abdominal- inch, of lean Adonis muscle that was carved by Michelangelo himself, was slowly revealed to her. With agonizingly slow pacing, Sasuke pulled his shirt up his torso and over his head to reveal the entirety of his chest and upper body which had gained some extra bulk since the last time she had seen him. Unaware, Sakura licked her lips as she watched his cut arms carelessly toss the shirt aside. Then as cool as ever, Sasuke confidently strode towards the edge of the pool and gracefully dove in. He came up from the water, droplets glistening down his body as a hand came up to his hair and raked his bangs back away from his face. Underneath sooty eyelashes, his eyes slowly moved up as his head tilted up towards the sky. His lips partied as he exhaled in satisfaction, refreshed from the day's heat by the pool's cooler temperature.

Sakura swallowed and suddenly she felt like the heat of the day was getting to her, because she was positive that she had just watched the live version of one her aunt's romance novels play out before her.

"Oi! Sakura, you gettin' in or not?"

Sakura just barely managed to pull her hungry eyes that were practically devouring her dark haired and apparently now, smoldering friend, to look at Naruto. "Uh-um-yeah," she managed to stammer out, doing her best to keep her gaze from going back to Sasuke who was now looking in her direction again.

Quickly she finished entering the pool via the steps, in which she had paused on. As soon as she stepped off the final stair, she submerged herself into the water, eager to cool her flushed and hot face that had nothing to do with the sun and everything to with the dark haired boy that had gone from highly attractive to devastatingly gorgeous and mouth watering hot, in what now seemed like two very short months.

Mentally she let out an agonized cry of frustration. She had made a vow over two years ago that she would never let herself jeopardize her friendship with Sasuke by selfishly asking for more from him. It had been hard, but she had managed her first two years of high school to do just that...barely. _But how the hell was she supposed to do it now? Now that he was unfairly irresistible that it should be a sin._

And it did not help that each time she recalled and replayed the looks he had been giving her earlier today, a small voice in the back of her mind identified that look as hunger and attraction. It gave her a false hope that made her feel far too eager for the approaching school year where they would be seated together for the third year in a row for home room. At least that is what she hoped. Hatake-sensei had been unconventional in his seating arrangements, constantly changing them up and switching people around. Yet, somehow, by the work of the gods, Sakura and Sasuke always found themselves paired at the same desk. Not even just the desk, but every assignment and group activity, Sakura found herself always in the company of Sasuke.

* * *

Itachi stood at the kitchen sink smiling to himself as he watched his brother blatantly struggle with the obvious changes that had developed in his female friend's appearance during her absence from Konoha. They both had been awkward at first but thankfully Naruto was there to act as a buffer and soften the tension that was practically visually manifesting between the two teens. Now they all sat on the lounge chairs, chatting away and drinking cool beverages as they caught each other up about what was happening in their melodramatic teenage lives.

Sasuke, while mutely participating in the conversation, had a shadow of a smile on his lips that was a welcome sight to his older brother. He was not sure what exactly was being said amongst the three but he was certain that smile was only there because of a certain someone else being there.

He had been worried about his brother when he first got back home from University. His little brother had been moody and at times unbearable even for Itachi's golden patience. It didn't take him long after, when he noticed the lack of presence of a certain rosette head of hair and his mother filling him in on Sakura vacationing with her aunt, to realize what the source of this dour brother was. But it seemed Sasuke was cured and Itachi was more than pleased.

Itachi watched as his little brother stood from his chair and couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him when he watched him obviously flex his muscles as he dried himself off in front of a wide eyed Sakura, whose eyes seemed to gravitate towards the obvious display that seemed to go over her head that was intentionally done for her to witness. Sasuke said something to his friends before turning to the house and entering into the side door. Immediately Itachi made a show of innocently washing the dishes as he watched his brother from the corner of his eye as he gave him a suspicious look then continued on down the hall.

Sasuke had hardly left when Itachi heard the familiar voice of his cousin say something. Immediately Itachi prepared for a growl or snap of response from his little brother but to his surprise, no such sounds of hostility echoed down to him. Instead, the shuffled footsteps of a dazed Shisui neared and Itachi turned around to see his cousin enter the kitchen looking slightly disturbed.

"Should I be worried that Naruto is buried somewhere in your backyard?" He asked, jabbing a pointing thumb over his shoulder in the direction of where Sasuke had disappeared to. "This whole summer his mood has been one straw away from breaking the camel's back that sets him on a murderous rampage. But I swear I just heard him whistling like a happy little song bird when I passed him in the hall. And he...he was smiling...at me," Shisui finished with an unsettled shiver as if he was about to become the next victim.

Itachi gave the smallest of smiles at his cousin's antics. It was true that this was certainly a notable thing. Sasuke never smiled at Shisui. He only scowled and glared, but Itachi could hardly put him at fault for that. Shisui brought that upon himself.

However instead of pointing that out, he nodded his head to the pool patio outside the kitchen window. "Sakura came back today," he gave as an only answer.

Understanding came to Shisui's face as well as relief, as if he genuinely was concerned for Naruto's wellbeing. But soon his usual glint of mischief came to his face and he was at the window in two steps. However when he took in the rosette girl, he came to a halt as a new, disturbed horror appeared on his face.

"What?! What happened to her? That is NOT my sweet innocent Sakura!? That is a seductress!"

"Seems she did some growing up over the summer."

Shisui looked back at him. "A little?" He said dryly, before looking back at her. He took her in, watching her as she talked with Naruto as they sat on the edge of the pool. Soon a frown came to his face. "This is wrong, this is all wrong on far too many levels. It should be illegal for her to look like that...I never felt shame for being a pervert but now I just feel like a pervert. I should not be hyper aware of the fact that she will be eighteen in only two short years and convincing myself that eight years is not that much of an age gap!"

Itachi let out an amused sound. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. She could be the same age as you and you wouldn't have a chance."

Shisui nodded in agreement as he looked back out the window. For a moment it was silent before the older Uchiha pondered aloud, "so how long do you think your suppressed little brother can keep it in now that she looks like that. Bet a million yen, that Sasuke breaks down and proposes by the start of the school year."

"I don't see what the hurry is. They still have two more years of high school."

Shisui gave him a skeptical look. "That just makes it worse," Shisui stated as he turned around and leaned against the kitchen sink. "You're telling me that girl–that woman," he corrected, jabbing his thumb in her direction, "can just go back to high school and you think the hormone raging boys she goes to school with won't notice?"

Itachi had no refute. He could not deny it, Shisui had a point.

The two cousins were still standing in the kitchen, speculating and talking with one another when one of their topics of conversation happened to walk in from the side door.

"Shisui!" Sakura exclaimed, coming around the kitchen island with her arms spread out for a hug. "I feel like it's been forever!"

She had pulled on her skirt before coming inside but her shirt, which was drying out on the patio from a rogue splash of Naruto, was missing. Leaving her with nothing but a bikini top to cover the rest of her body. Just as she was nearing him, Shisui's body flinched and his arm automatically rose up as his palm planted on her forehead. Sakura came to an abrupt stop as Shisui stiff-armed her and she gave him an odd expression. When Shisui seemed to acknowledge what he did, he cleared his throat and gave her a light pat on the top of her head.

"Good to see you too Sakura, you're growing up so fast!" He commented, using a tone used for toddlers.

Sakura gave him another look as the older man seemed to look everywhere but at her.

"Sakura, what are you doing!"

All three occupants of the kitchen whirled around to see Sasuke looking panicked and furious. Quickly he hurried over to her, unfolding the shirt which he had come inside to retrieve for her as hers was still soaked.

"Sasuke, I was just一"

Sakura was cut off as Sasuke pulled the shirt over her head. She let out a sound of protest as she wrestled and struggled to maneuver herself as Sasuke roughly and frantically tried to pull the shirt over her.

"Sasuke I can do it myself!" she objected when she failed to pull the length of the shirt down fast enough and he tugged it over her torso himself, causing her to stumble slightly from the force of the yank.

From over her head Sasuke glared and Shisui, who, now that he had gotten over the initial shock and acceptance that Sakura now looked more like a grown woman than the innocent girl he had grown so fond of, he sent Sasuke a wicked grin.

"I told you I would bring the shirt out to you," Sasuke ground out.

"I know but just wanted to see if you needed help bring out some of the snacks一"

Again she was cut off as Sasuke not so gently ushered her towards the door to the backyard. "I don't need help! You just stay out there and make sure Naruto doesn't drown himself or something," he proclaimed as he shoved her out the door.

As soon as the door was shut he turned back around and stoically walked towards the refrigerator. As he sorted through the various drinks and snacks that were available, he became hyper aware of his older cousin sidling up and leaning against the kitchen wall, his mischievous eyes set mirthfully on Sasuke.

"So when are you going to confess?"

Sasuke stiffened, his arm frozen half way in the fridge as he pulled out a juice. He cleared his throat and finished pulling out another cold beverage.

"Confess what?" he said, closing the door of the fridge as he gave a pointed look to his cousin. "I don't recall doing anything that would merit being worthy to be _confessed_."

Shisui gave his little cousin a mirthful grin. "I mean when are you going to tell Sakura that you like her...as in like-like her...as in lov一"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Sasuke quickly defended.

"Sure you do," Shisui grinned. "You're more than adequate test scores suggest your not stupid, and I know your not blind. You can't tell me you haven't thought about it."

Sasuke turned his head from the fridge and gave his cousin a scornful look. "I think getting promoted to detective has gone to your head. Don't you have investigations to conduct that are actual cases? You're digging for things that don't exist."

"Don't they?"

"We're _friends_ ," Sasuke said flatly.

"Oh, I don't doubt that," Shisui admitted. "...but you want to be more." Sasuke gave his cousin a dark look. Snatching his forged snacks, Sasuke began to stomp off towards the door. Wrenching it open, he moved to slam it shut. However he did not close it fast enough before he heard the haunting warning of his cousin follow him out, "if you don't someone else will!"

As the door cut out his cousin's cackling voice, Sasuke scowled at him through the window. Through the glass, his howling cousin looked mad with his head thrown back in a psychotic chortle. And as much as Sasuke wanted to believe that what his cousin was saying was in fact complete ludicrousy, as he turned to face his two friends sitting by the pool, he found his eyes focusing on one in particular.

Sakura.

She was sitting at the edge of the pool with her back to him, her feet over the edge as she let them dip into the water as Naruto laid out on a floaty as they talked. Whatever they were discussing fell onto deaf ears as Sasuke was too distracted by something else. Her long hair was pulled up into a high ponytail that bounced and swayed with every nod and turn of her head. Each time her hair shifted, it rubbed against the back of the old tee shirt he had outgrown over the summer. And it was that image, the contrast of her pink hair against the black shirt, and the red and white uchiwa fan that was printed between her shoulder blades that caused something within him to lurch.

Suddenly, the idea that maybe his cousin might be more sane than he was willing to admit, left him with a foreboding realization. For the past couple of years he had thought he just wanted to be in her company, that he just wanted to extend and preserve their friendship. But now, as he took in that image of Sakura, sitting in his backyard with his shirt guarding and claiming her, he was not so sure he could endure only being friends with her. And for the first time in his life, he found himself agreeing with Shisui. He wanted to be more than friends with Sakura.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have the next chapter. This actually turned out longer than originally planned but I am sure you can all forgive me ;) Thank you all to everyone for your wonderful feedback, kind words, and helpful comments! They truly make a big difference and I would love to continue to read your reactions, thoughts, and reviews! 
> 
> Take care of yourselves and remember to be kind and reach out to people and let people reach out to you! Stay excellent! 
> 
> Next Chapter: The Knight in Shinning Armor/The Samurai in a Black Tuxedo: There is an up coming dance that has the students frantically trying to find partners to attend with. An assumption is made, but it turns out assumption is a fickle friend. Sakura already has a date with a certain red headed senior. However, on the night of the dance, there is a second chance.


	14. The Knight in Shining Armor/The Samurai in a Black Tuxedo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N I started this story back in the middle of quarantine and was needing something lighter and less angsty to work on. I cannot say how baffled I was that this story turned out to be so loved and welcomed which has made sharing this over the past months a lot more fulfilling and special. I love to hear that this story made your day and got you through finals, quarantine, or just rough life in general! Never in my life did I think a story of mine would get so much love, especially one that I never originally planned to be more than a one shot yet here we are! So it only felt appropriate that I finished out this year with updating this story to ring in the new year!
> 
> A/N The gang are in their junior year in high school. They are all 15/16 years old.

The loud thunk of the soda bottle falling down had Naruto bending down and snatching the orange soda from the dispenser. It let out a quick hiss as he carefully unscrewed the cap then took a long chug, releasing a satisfied 'ah' he smacked his lips together in contentment before finally moving aside for Sakura to select her drink. As she dug in her bag for her coin purse, Sasuke swiftly reached into his pocket and deposited a coin into the slot for her.

"Hurry up and choose what you want," he said when Sakura gave him a confused look.

"Sasuke, I have my own money," she protested.

Sasuke leaned against the vending machine with his hands in his pockets. "Tch, you were taking too long," he replied not looking directly at her.

Sakura frowned down at the coin purse she was holding in her hand. Quickly she unsnapped her coin purse and held out a coin to him. "Here," she insisted.

Sasuke glared at the coin as if it had just offended his entire line of ancestry. "It's 100 yen, Sakura, it's no big deal. You don't have to pay me back," he remarked, pushing her hand holding the offering away from him. "Besides, I hate having change."

Sakura seemed torn for a moment. Unsure of what to do. While Sasuke always had plenty of spending money, he nickel and dimed Naruto if he so much as borrowed a piece of paper.

"Hurry up and choose," Sasuke prodded, keeping whatever retort she had rising to her tongue from leaving her mouth.

Sakura let out a sigh. "Okay, okay," she said, not bothering to put up any more protest and causing a satisfied Sasuke to push off the machine to stand by Naruto who was leaning next to the hallway window.

To be honest she should be used to it. She had found Sasuke doing things like this more and more often since the summer ended. At first she put it up to her imagination but now she was not so sure. She didn't want to read into an innocent gesture, especially with how Sasuke did it in such a nonchalant Sasuke-esque way. Only he could make a nice gesture seem selfish. Shaking her head to clear her confused mind, Sakura put Sasuke's recently odd behavior aside and focused on deciding what she wanted.

As Sasuke and Naruto waited on Sakura, a group of giggling girls herded past their hangout. A few of them lifted their eyes to peek up at the two boys who stood in the hallway by the vending machine. As soon as either boy so much as glanced in the direction of one of the girls, they were sent into a fit of giggles as they bowed their blushing faces before peeking up at the boys beneath their lashes. When the gaggle of fluttering girls managed to migrate farther down the hall, Naruto shook his head in confusion as another small bunch of girls fluttered past.

"I swear all of the girls have gone mental all of a sudden," he commented. "Did they always flock in herds?"

"It's because they are hoping one of you two will ask them to the dance." Both of them turned to see Sakura joining them, sipping at her green tea as she took her post between the pair.

As she settled between them, they each looked up at each other from over her head in a silent exchange. Sasuke quirked a questioning eyebrow while Naruto shook his head dumbly back at him.

"What dance?" Naruto asked dumbly.

Sakura let out a surprised cough as she brought the bottle of tea away from her lips. "Um...the winter formal that has been announced every morning since midterms, dance!" She looked back and forth between their clueless faces and covered her eyes with her hand as she let out a bemoaned sigh. "Honestly, do you two ever pay attention to the announcements?"

She looked to Naruto who shrugged. "Head master Sarutobi's voice is boring," he complained. "And the morning announcements are too early! Can't he do them in the afternoon? I can't think properly until after lunch."

"That's why they are called morning announcements! They are in the morning!" Sakura exclaimed before turning to Sasuke. "And what's your excuse?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I sleep through them," he proclaimed unabashedly. "Besides, if there is anything important you will tell me."

He flashed her a sly smirk.

"Seriously," she remarked dryly. "You're supposed to be learning life skills. This is an important life skill. What happens when I am not around anymore?" Sakura said, half joking but partially serious.

Sasuke's nonchalant demeanor quickly changed as he looked at her seriously. "That won't ever happen," he said with so much authority Sakura was slightly taken aback.

After enduring a long, hard stare from Sasuke, Sakura finally managed to look away as she shook her head. "...Anyways…" she began, still slightly phased from Sasuke's lack of humor in her joke. "The dance is set for the end of term. It's a big deal because only upperclassmen are invited, which is us this year now that we are juniors. The lower class can only come if they come as a guest...which is why you two have probably noticed most of your new fangirls are all younger."

As if on cue, another flock of girls, obviously all freshman girls now with the notable information, passed by. One girl in particular with long brown hair boldly met Sasuke's eyes and held his gaze as they passed by. She gave him a practiced shy smile as her eyes lingered on him until her group of followers giggled on past him. He looked down at Sakura who was watching the group of girls with a slight frown on her face.

"Tch," he scoffed, causing the perturbed looking pinkette to look up at him. "It sounds stupid." He had meant to try and erase the frown on her face but his words only seemed to cause it to deepen.

"So you aren't going to go?"

He let out an arrogant sounding snort. "Of course not. It sounds annoying."

"Yeah Sasuke's right," Naruto chimed in. "Trust me Sakura, these things aren't fun," he said, putting a consoling arm around her shoulder. "You're lucky your parents are normal, every year my dad hosts this big fancy gala for all the big time officials for some charity during the new year and it is a snooze fest, right Sasuke."

He turned to Sasuke who gave a noncommittal shrug of agreement. "More like annoying," he commented as he folded his arms across his chest. "I hate wearing tuxes."

"Isn't everything annoying to you?" Sakura challenged exasperatedly.

He rolled his eyes. "Okay fine, I agree with Nartuo it's boring," he said.

She turned back to Naruto who was nodding vigorously. "See," he emphasized. "They have all these fancy drinks that come in these hard to hold glasses that no one is aloud to drink except the adults, and all the food is hard to pronounce and smells like feet. And they never get a DJ. Instead they have a live band, which is not as exciting as it sounds, because it's just scratchy instruments with no vocals or bass and they only play stuffy posh music that you can only old fashion dance to and can't drop the bass一"

"Naruto," Sakura interrupted. "I don't think this is going to be like one of your dad's fancy galas. There will only be a few adult chaperons so I am pretty sure any beverages they have you can drink and I know for a fact they have a DJ. Some girls were talking about it and the school booked DJ Killer B for the dance."

Nartuto's eyes went wide at that. "REALLY!" he exclaimed, his voice dangerously pitched in his excitement.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, so maybe it wouldn't be all that bad?" she said with a hesitant shrug, glancing at Sasuke.

"Tch," Sasuke scoffed, when Naruto looked at him as well. "Still sounds lame. Isn't it formal? That means you have to wear a stupid tux."

"Oh," Naruto said, his excitement about his favorite DJ deflating. "Ugg, I hate wearing a tux, they're so stiff and uncomfortable, not to mention the bow tie is impossible to tie."

"Naruto, what are you talking about, you wear clip on," Sasuke pointed out dryly.

"But their complicated clips," Naruto argued pointedly. "And they are still hard to get straight!"

As Sasuke and Naruto began to bicker back and forth Sakura lightly spoke up, cutting them off. "I don't know, it could be fun if you went with the right people," Sakura suggested, her eyes darting to Sasuke before quickly looking away to Naruto.

Naruto seemed to think hard and long about it. "I don't know," Naruto finally shrugged. "The tux is kind of a deal breaker."

She looked to Sasuke who did not even bother answering verbally. Instead he gave her a scrutinized look which caused Sakura to seemingly wilt, her face taking on an almost disappointed look.

* * *

"...no, mom, I did not spend everything on video games," Naruto said into the phone while guiltily looking down at the shinobi gaming bag. "Yes, I will make sure I find a sweater for the party…" He tossed his empty slushy cup into the garbage as he passed a trash can. "...No mother, I would never spoil my appetite before supper," he defended while simultaneously taking a bite of the sweet dango he was holding.

As soon as his mother was satisfied he was doing the tasks in which he was instructed to do at the shopping center, Naruto pressed the red icon that ended the call and immediately swiped the screen clear as his thumbs searched out the most recent game he had become addicted to. Navigating on autopilot, he made his way towards his favorite gaming store to return, hopefully only one of the games, so he could buy the sweater he had been tasked to acquire. If not, he could always go with the whole, they didn't have one in the specified color, when he returned home to his mother. It could possibly save him from the wrath of the red demon if not, ANBU special ops III would be worth facing his mothers infamous temper.

As he made his way down the line of stores in the mall, Naruto was only half way aware of what was going on around him. With his eyes focused on the screen and his thumbs tapping wildly to destroy the herd of zombies attacking his dragon forest, he failed to take caution of someone exiting a store with a large window display of high end dresses. He was in the middle of frantically collecting all the germs that spilled from the super zombie boss, when all of a sudden he found himself crashing into someone. He lost his grip on his phone as it tumbled to the ground and his arms wildly reached out to grab onto the body he had nearly ran over to keep them from tumbling onto the ground as well.

A high squeak escaped the unfortunate person, and Naruto tightly grasped the girl and pulled her towards him. "I gotcha!" he said loudly, steadying the girl in front of him as he placed his hands on each of her shoulders.

Finally, once she was steady, she looked up. Pale lilac eyes, framed by dark black hair that almost had a midnight blue tone, looked up at him.

"Oh hey Hinata!"

"N-naruto," she squeaked, her face instantly flushing red as he leaned in closer to her.

"Hey are you okay?" Naruto asked in concern, coming even closer to her face and making her turn even redder. "Did I hit you that hard? I am really sorry."

"I-I'm f-fine," she managed to say.

Naruto looked around and found a bench close to them.

"Here come sit down, you don't look too good, like you're about to faint," he said, steering her out of the chaos of the rest of the shoppers to where the lone bench was.

Once he had her sitting down, he quickly ran back to grab his dropped phone and her dropped shopping bags. As he trotted back to a slightly calmed Hinata, he could not help but peak into her shopping bags. A shoe box was inside one bag while another held a carefully wrapped item but through the white tissue paper he could make out the sparkle of rhinestones and a lavender fabric.

He sat down next to her and passed the bags back over to her. "What is with the fancy clothes? Are you going to a party or something?"

Hinata accepted her bags as another blush rose in her high cheeks. "I-its for the d-dance," she explained.

For a moment Naruto blanked but then he remembered, "Oh yeah, that's next weekend isn't," he exclaimed in disbelief of how fast the school year was going by.

It seemed just like yesterday that Sakura had told him and Sasuke about it. But here they were a month later. He had almost completely forgotten about it since it hadn't been brought up since. Not that it mattered since none of them were planning on going.

Hinata nodded. "Y-yes. Are y-you going?" she asked shyly. "I heard a lot of g-girls were wanting to go with y-you."

Naruto shook his head. "Nah, Sasuke and I were going to try out the new Ninja's Unknown: Battleground game that is coming out that day."

"O-oh," she responded.

"Who are you going with? It seems everyone got a date to go, not like in middle school when we just went in groups."

She looked down at her lap. "I-I didn't get asked," she said, looking slightly crestfallen.

Naruto gaped at her."Wha-what!" he said in disbelief. "How could no one want to take you!?"

"I-its okay," she said, her face tinting at Naruto's almost offended tone that no one was taking her. "I will just go with N-neji and Tenten since they are t-together."

Naruto scrunched his nose. "Like a third wheel?"

Hinata shrugged her shoulders. "My father is insisting I go s-since it is being hosted at H-hyuga hotel," Hinata explained.

Naruto frowned. While he certainly enjoyed his high society life, he counted himself as lucky amongst his so-called elites. While others may covet their lives, there was a lot asked of them in return. Everything was about the family image therefore everything was practically decided for them, the schools they went to, to clothes they wore, the profession they chose, sometimes even who they married was decided by the elders of the more traditional family clans. While some clans, such as Naruto's had become more relaxed and free, there were still others like the Hyaga family that were very strict and controlling. Even Sasuke often found this happening as the Uchiha's were very much about the rigorous theme of 'what's best for the clan'.

"Well that doesn't sound very fun," Naruto commented, noting how Hinata and folded into herself.

They had been in the same social friends group since she started attending private school instead of being homeschooled back in middle school. But if he was honest, he never really noticed her. She was always so nice to everyone. He knew Sakura often had her over at her house because she was one of the few people Sakura was comfortable with having her come to her family's small town house. And Hinata was always so good to make Sakura feel as though her home was ten times better than the Hyuga mansion. Most likely because that was just it. Hinata didn't really have a home, where love and compassion was warmly given.

And as he looked at her, he realized she was rather pretty too. To which he found it difficult to believe that no one asked her. Then he remembered who her cousin was and he could believe it. Neji, while oftentimes a stuck up prick, was highly protective of his cousin. He was almost as bad as her dad, though he had gotten slightly better since dating Tenten. But despite this, most boys who were aware of Neji, knew to not mess with his cousin. Which was probably the reason why she didn't have a date because seriously...as Naruto's mind proclaimed, she really was pretty.

As Naruto's inner monologue went on, he was struck with a sudden idea. "Hey," he said brightly, causing Hinata to look up at him by his sudden energy. "What if we go together?"

There was a long pause as Hinata stared at him and he was suddenly worried she was going to pass out.

"Hinata?"

"R-really?" she finally managed to stutter, her face turning red but her eyes looking as if she had been hit with a wishing star.

"Yeah!" Naruto said enthusiastically, suddenly finding himself more excited than he thought.

"O-okay!" Hinata brightly agreed, a warm smile of joyous celebration blooming across her face.

Naruto grinned at her and gave her a thumbs up. "This is gonna be so much fun! Dattebayo!"

* * *

It was a drizzly Sunday afternoon as Sasuke glanced across the kitchen table to where Sakura was sitting studiously as she worked on their group project. Either Mr. Hatake thought his students incompetent to finish their work alone or he just really liked teamwork; because Sasuke was confident this was their hundredth group project since they were assigned him for home room. Not that Sasuke was complaining as he always got assigned with Sakura, the perfect partner. On occasion they were given larger groups, such as now, but Naruto was either running late or had completely forgotten.

There was an alert of a cell phone and Sakura dropped her pencil to quickly grab her phone. Sasuke watched as she swiped her finger across to read the message. She let out a faint sound of amusement and she quickly typed out a response, biting at her lip as she set her phone down and eagerly glanced back at it, as if waiting for another alert.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Who was she texting? Ino? Tenten? Hinata? But she didn't exactly exhibit the usual reaction one would when texting a friend. If he didn't know any better he would think it was the reaction one would have when texting their crush. He knew it wasn't Naruto explaining where he was, but for some reason, after witnessing that reaction, he was hoping it was.

"Was that Naruto?" Sasuke asked casually. "Did he say why he is late or did he forget?

Sakura looked up mid check to see if she had missed an alert from her phone. As soon as she met Sasuke's suspicious gaze, a pink tint seemed to surface across her face. "Oh um, I don't know."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as she quickly bowed her head and began to seem far too enthralled with her textbook, even for Sakura. "Then who texted you?"

"Just someone from school," she hedged, not looking up at him.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes even more. It was not like Sakura to be secretive. "What did they want?"

Sakura raised her head to give him a look. "What's with the interrogation?" she replied defensively.

Sasuke sniffed and leaned forward to cradle his own textbook sitting on the table. "Just curious," he brushed off casually, grabbing his pencil as he started to flip though his text book, doing his best to not be too concerned.

A loud slam of the side door, followed by the abrupt and wild entry of Naruto fumbling into the kitchen with his backpack saved them from an awkward silence.

"Sorry guys," Naruto quickly said. "My mom made me go get a sweater for our family pictures and then I ran into Hinata and we ended up going to get Ramen and I totally lost track ofー"

"Nobody cares, Naruto," Sasuke said in a terse tone. "Did you do the research?"

"What's up your butt?" Naruto asked walking around the table to sit next to Sakura as he riffled through his backpack, producing several crumpled pieces of paper he had printed off line and what looked to even be a ripped out page from an actual book. "Here," he said, shoving the pieces of paper into the middle of the table.

Sasuke sneered at the pages as Sakura let out a tired sigh and began to look through the mess of papers, smoothing them out and unfolding them.

"Oh yeah, and Sasuke, I am taking Hinata to the dance next weekend so we are going to have to play the new Ninja's Unknown: Battleground II a different day," Naruto quickly added, causing both Sasuke and Sakura to look at him.

"What!" They exclaimed together, each with a different tone. Sakura with excitement, Sasuke with annoyance.

They both looked at each other for a moment before looking back to Naruto.

"That's awesome!" "What the hell!" They responded in unison, again they looked at each other with questioning glances, then Sasuke shot Naruto a dark look.

"You can't just bail on me, we made plans," Sasuke demanded. "And besides, I thought you said you didn't want to go?"

"Sorry," Naruto shrugged. "I didn't think it was a big deal and after talking with Hinata it actually sounds really fun. We are going to go with Neji and Tenten and I am going to see if my dad will let us use the fancy limo he uses for special events. And Sakura was right! Killer Bee is the DJ so you know the music will be good. I really think it's gonna be fun!"

"And it will be," Sakura quickly said, shooting Sasuke a look. She looked back to Naruto. "So what color of dress is Hinata wearing? Make sure you get her a flower to maー"

"So you are just going to ditch me?" Sasuke interrupted, causing Sakura and Naruto to look back at him.

"Sasuke," Sakura reprimanded. "It's just a game. You can play later or evenー"

"That's not the point," Sasuke snapped. "We made plans to hang out."

Both Sakura and Naruto gave him an odd look, both confused by his outlash. It wasn't exactly like Sasuke to care so much about keeping commitments with Naruto. Sakura yes, but with Naruto there was always an exception in which Sasuke was allowed to cancel without question. That exception was Sakura. Sakura was perhaps unaware of this detail, but Naruto was not. He always understood that no matter how close he and Sasuke were, there was a certain dedication that Sasuke would always have to Sakura that took precedence over Naruto himself.

"Well maybe you could come along instead?" Naruto suggested.

"Tch. And be a third or fifth wheel?" Sasuke said with a scoff. "No thanks."

Naruto looked at Sakura. "Sakura, you're a girl!"

Sakura's excited face slightly fell at that, and she gave Naruto a sour look. "Gee, I never noticed," she said dryly.

"No, no," he said, waving his hands as he eyed her now clenched fists. He pointed to Sasuke. "What I mean is you can go with Sasuke as his date!"

Sakura glanced at Sasuke who was suddenly sitting upright in his chair.

"Yeah, that would be so fun!" Naruto went on. "Then we all can go! Didn't you say you wanted to go anyways?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to concede to the proposal, the idea of attending the dance suddenly sounding quite pleasant. But Sakura's sudden and abrupt answer came faster.

"No," Sakura suddenly said abruptly, causing both Sasuke and Naruto to look at her.

"NO?" Naruto questioned. "As in no you don't want to go to the dance? Or no you don't want to go with Sasuke? You know you don't have to call it a date, you can just go as friends?"

"I mean no to going with Sasuke at all," Sakura supplied, her tone sounding frustrated.

"Why not?"

Sakura looked at Sasuke who had queried the question, his face looking oddly stiff and concentrated as if trying to hide other emotions. "Because I am already going with someone else," she said plainly, looking down at her notes and making a show of adding a thought to her paper.

"WHAT!?" Naruto bellowed. "But everyone knows your off limits becauseー"

Sasuke cut Naruto off with a look that promised a very painful death. He then looked sharply at Sakura, distracting her from looking at Naruto with an inquisitive confusion.

"Who?" he demanded.

Sakura opened her mouth to reply but Naruto jumped in before she could say anything. "Is it Lee? I thought he was going with that new weird girl, Fū"

"It's not Lee," Sakura responded. "And Fū isn't weird, she's just overly friendly."

"Then who?" Sasuke pressed again, his tone a dark one that he had never used with Sakura before.

"Well if you must know, his name is Sasori," Sakura stated.

"Saso-what?" Naruto failed to repeat.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Sasori Akasuna, he is from the class above ours so you probably don't know him."

"So you're just going with a stranger?" Sasuke questioned, his tone now condescending.

"He isn't a stranger to me," Sakura argued.

"Then how do you know him and we don't," Sasuke accused.

"We have art together," Sakura snapped back. "You know...the one class you guys wouldn't sign up for with me?"

"And you are just going to go with him because he asked?" Sakura furrowed her brow at Sasuke, confused by his bitter tone.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, perplexed as to how Sasuke was failing to understand this. "I wanted to go and I didn't want to go alone. He asked me and I accepted. Why is that so complicated to grasp?"

"If you wanted to go so badly you could have just told me," Sasuke snapped. "I would have taken you!"

Sakura stared at him from across the table, utter disbelief painted across her face. When she recovered, she took in a deep breath. "You said you didn't want to go," Sakura strained to calmly reply. "Both of you said it was stupid and lame."

Sasuke slammed his hands on the wooden table, "Well I would have made an exception for you!"

Sakura's eyes grew wide at his outburst, and no longer able to control her own tone, shouted back, "Why? So you could grumble about how annoying everything was and sulk in the corner the whole time!" Sasuke glared at her and Sakura let out a frustrated scream as she grabbed her bag and scooped everything off the table and into it. "I thought that we came here to work on our paper, not discuss how unbelievable it is that someone would actually want to ask me on a date!" Sakura said, standing abruptly and making for the front hall as she zipped up her backpack.

"Sakura," Sasuke began, his tone hinting that she was being ridiculous.

"Just email me your parts when you finish and I will put the stupid paper together," she remarked, before swinging the front door open and dashing outside into the rain.

Sasuke stared at the empty entryway for one long moment before he ran after her, grabbing the umbrella she had left behind as he chased after her. Running out of his driveway, he crossed through the park in which they had met a decade ago, then took a short cut down an alley to cut her off. He emerged from the alley, his head turning up and down the street until he caught sight of her, her pink hair darker than usual, dimmed by the dampness of the rain.

"Sakura!" he shouted. She did not even turn her head, only grabbing her bag tighter as her pace increased. Sasuke let out a curse and began to sprint down the street, grabbing onto her when he caught up. "Sakura, what the hell is your problem?" he questioned, pulling her into the coverage of the umbrella. "You're going to get yourself sick!"

"Well I bet you would just love that wouldn't you! Then I wouldn't be able to go to the dance" she snapped, turning away from him to keep walking.

Sasuke stared at her back with a perplexed expression before jolting forward to step in front of her and block her way.

"Move, Sasuke!" she demanded.

"Not until you tell me what your problem is?"

"MY PROBLEM!?" she questioned. "What about yours?"

"..."

Sakura let out an exasperated noise. "The next time you want to take me to something, you should just ask and not wait till the last minute! You can't just expect me to wait around! As a friend I thought you would support me on this!"

"Fine!" Sasuke growled out with resentment to her use of the word friend. "I didn't want to go to the stupid dance anyways!" He shoved the umbrella into her hand and turned around into the now pouring rain. "Have fun on your date!" he yelled over his shoulder, stomping away as the heavy downpour soaked through his clothes and weighted down his hair.

"I will!" he heard her shout back, her voice breaking at the end but he refused to turn back around. Not daring to see her cry and knowing he had caused it.

As he stomped through puddles and cut under rain gutters, the anger and frustration he had aimed at her quickly turned around, and by the time he was home he was only angry and frustrated with himself. He had been warned this would happen and it only made him more angry at the fact that Shisui had been right. He had meant to tell Sakura of his changing feelings, he really had. But as it turns out, finding the right time to tell someone you like them is a bit harder than he thought.

He had thought he was safe enough. He had thought their situation was like Hinata with Neji watching over her, most boys were too afraid to even look at Sakura for fear of what Sasuke would do. He had seen to it early in the school year to at least make it clear to everyone in his grade that she was off limits. It was perhaps a bit arrogant and misogynistic of him, like a dog peeing on something to mark its territory, but Sasuke hadn't cared, he knew he was selfish. And up until now, things had gone well. There was just one problem in his plan...he had forgotten about the senior students above him. He was king of the grade but not king of the school.

* * *

"...grey skies followed by rainfall will continueー"

Click. The weather man on the screen was replaced by a man and woman dressed in historical clothing as they embraced each other in a passionate hold.

"...I shall love you until the end ofー"

Click. The couple making their romantic vows were replaced with a colorful screen of anime characters as the somber music of the previous show was replaced by the loud upbeat theme song.

"...we are fighting, dreamers takami wo mezaー"

Click...click...click

Sasuke moved through the channels as he blankly stared at the television. After a moment he switched to Netflix and began to scroll through the endless mass of shows, not a single one looking distracting enough from his foul mood.

The week had been horrible and endless, and now that it was finally the weekend, he was ready for it to be over and done with. The weather had been overcast and rainy all week as if to match his gloomy and sour mood.

He was sprawled out on the couch with chip bags and soda cans to keep him company. It was the night of the dance, his parents were gone and Itachi was off at school, leaving him to brood alone without anyone to try to change his dark mood. And he was determined to keep it that way as he distracted himself from thinking about how Sakura would have been picked up by now and was probably currently at the dance wrapped in Sasori's arms as she too clung to him. It was an image in which he was struggling to contain the spiteful anger each time it entered his mind.

In all their years of knowing each other, they had never fought like this before. Sure everyone has their arguments and disagreements, Sasuke could admit that he was not exactly the easiest person to get along with. But they had never yelled and shouted at each other like that. And they for sure had never had an unresolved issue last this long. But currently Sakura had said all of five sentences to him all week and it was taking its toll on him.

Usually Sakura was quick to forgive, oftentimes acting as if nothing had ever happened the next time they saw each other as they seemed to come to a mutual apology and forgiveness. But this time things were different. Sakura wouldn't even give him a chance to apologize. Anytime he so much as turned to talk to her she was either walking away or striking up a conversation with someone else. Mostly she had just been avoiding him altogether.

Sasuke heard his phone buzz on the couch next to him but ignored it, switching from Netflix to the new PS5 he had managed to acquire amongst the first batch. As his game loaded, the phone went off again and he looked at the screen to see Itachi's name lighting up on the display. He rolled his eyes and hit the decline button before focusing back on selecting a play mode. Two seconds later it was going off again.

Sasuke let out a growl, abandoning his game as he jabbed his finger to accept the call and immediately put it to speaker phone. "What do you want?" Sasuke said in an undeservingly bitter tone, grabbing his controller back up as he set the phone in his lap and leaned back into the couch.

"Where are you?" His brothers unusually strained tone demanded.

Sasuke paused and looked down at his phone, slightly taken aback by Itachi's tone. "At home," he replied.

"Is tonight not the big dance the high school puts on?"

"It is."

Itachi was quiet on his end for a long time and Sasuke could only hear what was most likely a wild college party going in the background. While it seemed an odd environment for Itachi, it was his roommate Kisame who was more than likely throwing it.

"Are you not taking Sakura?" Itachi finally questioned. "You should have picked her up by now. It is not good manners toー"

"I am not going to the dance at all," Sasuke gritted out, before adding, "Sakura didn't want to go with me," he exaggerated bitterly.

"Why not? Who is she going with instead?"

"Some senior at school," Sasuke answered, wondering why Itachi always had to be so nosey. Why was it such a big deal who she went with. It was just a stupid dance. It didn't mean anything...right?

"Sasori Akasuna?" Itachi's voice warily asked after a pregnant pause on his end of the line.

Sasuke's fingers slipped, causing his avatar to fall off the ledge and respawn at the beginning. However the misstep went practically unnoticed as he grabbed his phone, taking it off speaker as he brought it to his ear.

"You know him?"

Itachi was unnaturally quiet, even for an Uchiha.

"Itachi," Sasuke said, his voice taking on a tone of worry. "Why do you ask?"

Earlier that week Sasuke had taken it upon himself to search out this so-called senior who had dared to ask Sakura. He had hoped for someone like Lee. Harmlessly bold and oblivious to what was and was not out of his league. Unfortunately Sasori was nothing like Lee. From what he learned from others, he was smart, attractive, and talented in art which of course had all the girls falling for him. The only flaw others saw was that he was a bit on the short side, but it seemed that did not bother most of his admirers. However, from what Sasuke concluded from his observations in the school hallways and his obsessive stalking of his Bingobook profile on social media, the guy was a self obsessed ass hole. Then again his opinion was possibly a bit biased.

'Does he have red hair?' Itachi asked.

Sasuke sat up straight. "Itachi, tell me what is going on," Sasuke demanded, gripping his phone tightly in his hand. "Why are you calling me about this?"

'I am pretty sure he is here in Kirigakure,' Itachi stated solemnly. 'Kisame had some friends come over and one of them brought him a long. I vaguely remember him from my last year in high school and when he was still a freshman. He treated girls like they were puppets, stringing them along, trying to get them to do his bidding. But once he grew tired of them or realized they would not do what he wanted, he would just discard them. I went out to grab something to drink when I heard him talking about some poor girl he had ditched to come to the party instead. I had hoped I had been mistaken by his vulgar description of her and was hoping that I was mistaken. He said she was too naive and was laughing about how she actually thought he was going to go with her. I was hoping it was wrong and it wasn't Sakura, not that I would wish this upon any girl. But I am worried that she might not be aware of his natureー'

Sasuke hung up on his brother as he stood from the couch, his mind whirling as he tried to think over the loud ringing in his ears. All the while his entire body shook with rage. He had half a mind to go to Kirigakure and pummel the heartless redhead but the blood thirsty images were soon washed from his mind as another thought entered his mind.

Sakura.

* * *

Sakura brushed what she hoped was the last tear from her face as she sat at the small armoire in her room. Then she looked up and took in her reflection.

The emerald dress that Ino had let her borrow was truly beautiful and like her blonde friend said, would look perfect on her. Even the freshly wounded state of Sakura's self esteem at this moment could not even deny such a statement. And the braided crown of her rosette hair that wrapped around her head before being delicately twisted into a sophisticated knot on the other side at the nap of her neck went perfectly. Her mother had woven it so intricately and delicately that it went perfectly with the neckline and thin straps, showing off the crisscrossed back of the dress. She had even fastned the most beautiful gold branch hair clip next to the knot that added a finished tone to the look. And finally, after years of being under the tutelage of Ino, the next upcoming makeup tutorial sensation, Sakura had managed to make her makeup look flawless for the night.

That is...until an hour passed and the tears had begun to build up.

As she stared back at her red rimmed eyes Sakura grabbed some tissues and started to dab at the running mascara and eyeliner. After reapplying a few strokes to her bottom lashes, Sakura picked up the pen to touch up her eye liner. Her hand lifted up halfway to her eye before suddenly dropping the pen back onto the small table as she slumped in her chair.

Who was she kidding. Despite the numerous times she had told herself he was just running late, and the amount of texts she had sent to friends that she would be there, after an hour had passed with no word from Sasori, Sakura knew better. He wasn't coming. She had been foolish to think he actually liked her. When she first met him he had given her the impression of being a player, but she had seemed to forget that when he started showing her attention.

Taking in a deep breath as she fought off another wave of tears of embarrassment and shame as Sakura reached up to pull the hair piece from her hair. Her fingers had just moved to begin pulling the numerous hair pins that fastened her hair into place. Just as she was about to slide the first one out, she heard a knock at the door.

She froze, looking up with wide eyes she stared at herself in the mirror, her face one of shock and disbelief. He was here! She jolted up and quickly moved from her room to scurry down the stairs as best she could in the dress. Her hand was just reaching out to the door when she suddenly came to a stop.

Why was she acting excited? He was nearly an hour and a half late and he hadn't so much as even bothered to text her to inform her of a delay. In fact she had not heard from him in two days, having every text she had sent him this past weekend left on read each time she asked to confirm a small detail or even tried to just strike up a small conversation like they had just a week ago. And now, after the way he had disrespected her, she was skipping down the stairs to happily greet him? As if all was forgiven? If she let him get away with this, how many other girls would be treated poorly because she just went along with it.

She retracted her hand as it balled into a fist. Her first instinct was to wrench open the door and scream at him. But at the same time, she didn't want to give that arrogant jerk the idea that she had sat around waiting on him, either.

No, she was going to go back upstairs. He could wait all night on her doorstep for all she cared. And let him think she went on to the dance without him. Give him a taste of his own medicine. She turned around, meaning to discreetly go back upstairs but then the insistent and demanding knocking began. On second thought, she didn't care if he knew she was still here, he deserved an ass kicking. He needed to learn that actions have consequences. She had a duty to her fellow girls who had most likely also been duped by the spineless insect that Sasori was.

Whirling back around to the door, she grabbed the handle and wrenched it open, her eyes bright with fury as her fist naturally drew back. However the moment the door was open wide enough to expose said person, she froze.

Sakura blinked, then blinked again as she stared at not Sasori, but at Sasuke. He was standing on her front step, his dark eyes wide, and face startled from her more than graceless and wild greeting of the door.

Quickly she dropped her fist, her face turning to confusion as his dark eyes slowly moved down her body then back up, suddenly making her feel foolishly self conscious and bowed her head as her shoulders crumpled. Of course Sasuke would show up to gloat. How he knew she had been stood up was beyond her. But yet, it did not surprise her. Her head fell forward as she prepared herself for the I told you so speech.

"You look beautiful!"

Sakura's head snapped up so quickly she was certain she gave herself whiplash.

She stared at him, unsure if she had heard him right but his face was nothing of mockery, only sincerity, with a tinge of pink in his high cheekbones. "Uh...th-thank you," she said, tucking a wisp of hair behind her ear. He continued to, for lack of a better word, gap at her. "But um...Sasuke, what are youー"

He seemed to wake out of a trance and clear his throat, cutting her off. "Sorry I am late, I had a bit of trouble getting my tux on," he said tugging at the suit, which for the first time Sakura realized he was even dressed in.

It seemed a bit short in the arms but looser in the chest as if made for someone slightly shorter with a bit more muscle. The only explanation was that the tux was not his, as any member of his family having an ill fitting suit seemed odd. She had seen him in workout clothes that looked more tailored for a perfect fit on him.

"Sasuke, what are youー"

"I know I should have called," he interrupted again. "And I apologize for my tardiness...I promise I will make it up to you tonight, if you would let me."

He gave her an expectant look and Sakura felt her throat tighten. He wasn't here to gloat, he was here to take her to the dance. Somehow, someway, despite their argument and his disinterest in going, as well as her dismissal of him, he was her to take her anyways.

"S-sasuke," she began, her voice slightly straining. "I'm so sorry, you were right, I never should haveー"

"Are you ready?" he interrupted, yet again. "Because if we leave now, we should still be able to enjoy it for a couple hours."

Sakura looked at him, noting in the rigid way in which he stood, obviously discomforted. Then she noted his eyes. She could see a vengeful storm brewing behind the obsidian glass that made up his irises. Most would most likely not notice, but she had spent years and years looking into those eyes and learning to interpret the seemingly unreadable blackness. She had seen that look before, back in middle school when she was bullied.

"Sasuke, you don't have to do this. Really I am fineー"

"Sakura," he turned to the side and lifted his arm out in invitation. "Come on," he said, a small tenderness and softness forming at the corner of his eyes.

At first she was annoyed by his constant interrupting, but then it hit her. He was ignoring the fact that she had been stood up, ignoring the fact that for the past week she had utterly ignored him, and was ignoring the fact that they were in the middle of the biggest fight they had ever had. He was acting as if they were always going to go together, as if in this moment, Sasori was an insignificant name. He had not come here to mock her or throw it in her face like she had thought, he was here to save her. He was here to be there for her and let her save face.

He was like a prince in shining armor, coming to sweep her off her feet and take her to the ball. Although he did not exactly strike her as the typical image of perfect locks and dashing smiles that the movies always portrayed. He was more like a ninja, sneaking in and intercepting her from the biggest humiliation since seventh grade, ever the dark samurai to her rescue.

Trying to hold back the grateful tears that were building, Sakura took his arm, giving it a warm squeeze as he escorted her down the stairs and to the street. As they exited the gate, Sakura came to an abrupt stop as she took in the large police SUV parked outside with tinted windows. She gave him an inquisitive look but before he could explain, the sound of the power window rolling down had her looking back to the police car to see a grinning Shisui at the driver's seat.

"You're chariot awaits my lady!" he said with a dramatic flare, causing Sakura to burst out into a half cry half laugh as Sasuke opened the door to the back seat and grumble something that sounded oddly like 'should have called Madara instead'.

* * *

A few hours later, they were walking up the broken and cracked stone path that led up to her old house. Sasuke could see a light on upstairs, most likely indicating that one or both of her parents were finally home. It gave him a small feeling of relief that he would not be leaving to enter an empty house. She reached the steps that led up to the front door and began her ascent. Sasuke followed after her, not sure exactly why, but he came to a stop on the last step when she turned around.

Her bottom lip was pulled into her mouth as she nervously bit at it. When she released it, it was slightly swollen and red, drawing in Sasuke's attention. After a night of standing in a crowded and noisy ball room, in this moment, all Sasuke could remember of the past couple hours was the feel of her arms wrapped around his neck as they stood with only a breath between them. Even now his fingers tingled with the memory of his hands curving around her hips and lower back as they had swayed to the handful of slow dances the DJ had played.

"Well…" she began, breaking him away from his thoughts as her fingers grasped at each other. She slowly lifted her head to look him in the eye. Even with the advantage of being on a step above him, he was just slightly taller than her. "Thank you...again, Sasuke. While tonight did not go exactly as envisioned..."

Sasuke rubbed at the back of his neck as a small frown pulled at his lips. "Sorry…" he apologized in a mumble, causing Sakura to quickly start shaking her head.

"No! No! Don't apologize," she protested. "What I meant to say is yes, it didn't go as I envisioned but it was surprisingly better." She looked down at her feet as her shoulders sagged. "You were right, I never should have agreed to go with him. His reputation as a player isn't exactly unknown. It should have been you from the very beginning." She paused as she picked at her nail polish for a moment before continuing. "And I shouldn't have gotten mad at you and chosen a boy over our friendship. Forgive me?" she asked hopefully, peering up at him.

There was a time when he valued that word. Friend, friendship...so long as it was attached to one of his precious people. But in the recent months he had found that word slowly grating on his mind each time it was used by a certain one of his precious people. A certain someone who was currently standing before him. Because it was too basic, too wrong of a description for the way he felt about her. Friends did not want to reach out and tuck the piece of hair behind their friend's ear that had come loose just because they wanted an excuse to touch them again, even after an entire night of being pressed close together while they danced. Friends did not want to reach out and uncurl their friends nervous fingers and entwine them with their own. Friends did not want to lean forward and press their lips to the friend's standing in front of them.

And then he was hit with an idea, with a thought. If he said something, that could all change. If he just told her how he felt they could become closer, they could become more than just friends...

Taking a step up to her level on the stairs, he settled in front of her, consciously aware of her turning to him and watching him closely. He focused on the wrist corsage that was looped around her left wrist, something Shisui had managed to put together at the last minute as Sasuke struggled to put on the ill fitting tuxedo he had lent him. Unconsciously he reached out and brushed the pale petals of the lavender rose, again surprised by his cousin's skills as a florist. After a moment of studying the rose and gathering his courage, he lifted his head and opened his mouth.

"Sakura, I一"

The rest of the words became lodged in his throat the moment he met her wide green eyes. They were just so expectant, so open, so...lovely. And his earlier thought finished in his mind. If he just told her how he felt they could become closer, they could become more than just friends...but they could also grow apart. What if she did not feel the same way? What would he feel like after the rejection? But if she knew how he truly felt, what he really wanted, would she even want to be his friend anymore? Could they even be friends? If things remained as they were now...at least this way he could be near her. But if she did...his mind prodded again.

"Yes?" she prodded, her eyes looking eager and hopeful.

Sasuke opened his mouth but suddenly he was reminded of the excitement she had expressed about someone else liking her when she told him of her original date. And soon doubt and apprehension replaced his earlier conviction and courage. Of course she didn't like him, she liked Sasori...undeserving, pompous ass Sasori. Who had just broken her delicate and beautiful heart.

While she seemed to be unaffected tonight at the dance, he knew Sakura. Sakura was the master at putting on a brave face. But in reality, she was still wounded and hurting quietly from the rejection. While Sakura was stronger than she once was, no matter how strong a person was, being rejected by a love interest stung, it was part of being human, part of having emotions and attachments. Something Sakura was much better at doing than himself. It was an ability that while many looked down on, he secretly envied the way she could be so compassionate to others.

And again Sasuke was hit with a realization. Sakura didn't need a love confession right now, she needed a friend while her heart mended from the poison that was Sasori to be healthy enough to be given to another again. Someday, he promised himself, someday he would tell her. And he hoped she would trust him enough to offer up that warmth of hers to him. But right now he could not be selfish, it was not the right time.

"Sasuke, were you going to say something?"

He looked up at her, and suddenly he knew what to do. His hand moved up towards her face where it paused right before her eyes. She went slightly cross eyed, giving him an adorable look of confusion before he extended two fingers and jabbed them into the center of her forehead.

"Hn," he hummed. "Sorry Sakura, next time."

She flinched slightly and her hand automatically went up to rub at the spot as he withdrew his own. And with that, he gave her a smirk and left a speechless Sakura gaping at him, confused as he walked back to the Shisui's patrol car without another word.

Sasuke shut the door of the back seat and glanced back to see her dazedly walking into her door as she rubbed at the center of her forehead. He smiled to himself, pleasantly happy about the night. It was like Sakura said, it did not go the way it was originally planned...it was a lot better.

"So did you kiss her?"

Sasuke's dark eyes moved away from the window and narrowed towards the driver's seat where Shisui was grinning back at him.

"You chickened out, didn't you?"

"Shut up, Shisui," Sasuke barked, kicking out at the seat in front of him.

"Oi watch it! I can have you arrested for destruction of a police vehicle!"

Sasuke only answered with a dark glare that dared his cousin to even try it. Immune to Sasuke's threats, Shisui moved the car into gear and began to drive off. They had hardly turned off the street before Sasuke's quiet voice sounded over the hum of the engine.

"Thanks, Shisui."

In the driver's seat Shisui smirked to himself. "Sasuke, so long as that girl ends up in this family, I will do anything you ask."

The car fell silent for a moment before Sasuke's voice filled the cab of the car again. "Could we never talk about anything that occurred between us tonight?"

Shisui let out a barked laugh. "Oh my dear naive little Sasusy, I am your cousin, not a saint. I will be holding this over your head for the rest of your life," he said, turning around and giving Sasuke a zealous wink before turning back to focus on the road. "Sakura and Sasusy, sittin' in a tree," he began to sing, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

Sasuke let out a groan and leaned forward to bury his head in his lap. Just what kind of demon spawn devil did he make a deal with tonight?

"First comes love, then comes marriage..."

Taking off the suit coat he borrowed from the musical performer currently sitting in the driver seat, Sasuke wrapped it around his head in hopes to drown out his cousin's embarrassing serenade. However, it seemed no amount of sound proofing his ears would ever be able to drown out Shisui's enthusiastic ballad.

* * *

Bonus Scene (because it messed with the flow but I still wanted to include more Shisui)

Earlier that night...

Once Sasuke had managed to put aside the planning of Sasori's murder his first instinct was to rush over to Sakura's house and see if she was still there, if not he would go to the hotel. But then he realized one flaw in his planning. First off, he needed a suit. With his seemingly endless growing, he knew that the suit his mother had tailored for him nine months ago for a social gathering would be far too short by now. And unless he wanted to ride the bus wearing a tux and Sakura wearing a dress that was in no way shape or fashion, designed for the metro, he had no way to get to the dance. He wasn't old enough to drive, his parents were at a gala with Naruto's parents, Itachi was hours away in Kirigakure, so by the time he could get here, the dance would be over.

Sasuke stared at his frozen hand on the front door handle, trying to think. He could always call Madara who would send him a car but what was he going to do about a suit? Then it dawned on him, there was one person who could help him...with everything. Sasuke slowly closed his eyes before pulling out his phone. Scrolling through his contacts he finally found that said person's number, saved under the name, do not answer.

He let out a sigh and pressed the call button.

It rang out twice before the person picked up and their voice greeted him with an exuberant amount of glee. "Hey Sasucy," came the infuriatingly condescending voice of his cousin.

Sasuke swallowed down the instinctual retort and urge to automatically hang up whenever he heard that tone. His cousin was the last person on earth he wanted to be saying this to, but he could drive, and had far too many suits for even the highest of people in the fashion world. "Shisui, I need your help."

* * *

Shisui was driving through the quiet neighborhoods that made up his route in the standardized patrol car as he missed his usual unmarked and customized car that he used when doing his detective work. However tonight he was covering a normal patrol shift as punishment for causing too much calamity damage with his most recent bust. He caught the suspect so he wasn't exactly sure why he was being punished, but apparently causing five car accidents and jumping his own car into the river to catch a perp with an outstanding warrant for a single unpaid parking ticket was regarded as "excessive".

So here he was, serving a month long probation of night patrol and bored out of his mind. Thus when his phone went off and the lit up screen displayed the name Sasucy Poo across the display, he was more than eager to take the call. Grinning widely, he pulled over and put the car into park as he brought his phone to his ear.

"Hey Sasucy," he said.

"Shisui, I need your help," Sasuke replied after a pause, his voice sounding strained as if saying those words were the hardest thing he had ever done in his life.

"No can do little cuz. I am on patrol tonight," Shisui answered, watching out the window as a suspicious looking person with a limp and cloaked face crossed the street. Then again, it could just be an innocent old woman with a scarf on to keep off the cold.

"Shisui...please," he heard Sasuke say, his tone almost pleading.

Shisui froze at Sasuke's words. If he didn't know any better he would think Sasuke was begging...which would mean this was serious. Was someone dying? Did something happen to Itachi? Had Sasuke been kidnapped and was now being held for ransom!

"What is wrong?" Shisui asked, his tone more serious than he had ever used when talking with Sasuke.

"It's Sakura…" Sasuke began, before explaining everything.

Shisui was already turning on the lights and siren and he raced across town before Sasuke had even managed to finish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it is cruel to tease and I am sure some were expecting a confession towards the end of this chapter but I hope you were not too disappointed. It just wasn't quite the right time yet but I was doing some drabbling in some future chapters and ideas and totally wrote the moment when Sasuke eventually does :D so the time will come...eventually! Threw in some random references and a little NaruHina in there for anyone partial to that ship, they are just adorable and was the first time I think I have ever really written them. Happy 2021 everyone! I know the end of 2020 will not automatically make things better but I hope you all stay safe and remember to be your excellent selves even after it is!
> 
> Had some people ask so yes I cross post my stories on FFN under the same username. You can also find me on tumblr where you can find updates and mood boards that go along with my stories.
> 
> Up Next: The Original Best Friend: Sasuke already has a bitter taste in his mouth when it comes to red headed boys who give Sakura attention. But what can you do when the new student is not only a red head, but also Sakura's long ago best friend from her life before Sasuke. As we all know, Sasuke does not like to share. And as the saying goes "finders keepers".

**Author's Note:**

> Finished all my work, was sitting alone in the office and spinning in my chair when this popped into my head so this is what I did to pass the time. Not sure if it will turn into an actually story. May add a few more little things in the future but mostly just fluffy fun to pass the quarantine slump as I take a refresher break from working on my other stories.


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